On something that really matters.
Howard demands tougher line (source: The Age Online)
Howard, for once, is showing a bit of backbone. It appears he has been stung by recent criticism that the Government had bowed to Indonesian pressure over the West Papuan affair when the processing of asylum seekers was offshored once more.
Howard is in Batam meeting Indonesian President Yudhoyono in what is said to be something of a make or break between the two countries. The relationship's prickliness goes back a long way and really went pear-shaped in 1999 with the East Timor debacle and earlier this year again when the West Papuan issue came up.
What's interesting about the relationship between the leaders is that they are both so media-driven. Howard's relationship with the right-wing media is well-known here and Yudhoyono has backed himself into the same corner in Indonesia. Yudhoyono always panders to right-wing xenophobia, (the acceptable kind, the one where epithets are absent to give the guise of respectability) the same way Howard does and conveniently ignores facts when they get in the way of a good political gain.
So these two guys understand each other and their problems. They probably don't believe in half the things they do, they just do what they're told by populist media outlets to maintain the vote. Will Howard stick with his anti-Bashir line? Publicly, you bet. Privately, who knows. Will Yudhoyono ever publicly denounce the infamous, pathetic and tasteless cartoon of Downer and Howard as rooting dogs wanting to take over West Papua? Nup. That would lose votes because it wasn't anti-Muslim.
It will be an interesting few days. I'm very curious as to what the Indon media will dream up to try and force Yudhoyono into something publicly unpleasant. Meanwhile, the sight of Howard with a backbone will surely catch some of us by surprise.
technorati tags:john, howard, indonesian, president, yudhoyono, batam, meeting, australia, politics
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