While promoting Indonesia’s strong commitment to peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific and ASEAN as a leading force in the region, Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi s ‘abstained at his annual press conference Thursday from addressing the failure of the House of Representatives to ratify ASEAN. Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) by the December 2021 deadline.

Even without Indonesia’s ratification, the RCEP entered into force on January 1, but the House’s laborious deliberations on one of the world’s largest trade pacts marred a diplomatic step. Not only is failure hard to accept given that over 80% of the House belongs to the ruling coalition, it is also a slap in the face of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, the main promoter of the free agreement. -exchange.

Further, it demonstrates poor coordination and a lackluster ministerial effort to push lawmakers to ratify the treaty on time.

The protracted pandemic has forced the government, including the Foreign Ministry, to readjust its targets and goals. But these difficulties are no excuse for allowing progress to stop. It is natural for the public to demand more from the government during difficult times, and the RCEP is incomplete without Indonesia’s ratification.

During his press conference, Retno highlighted the country’s achievements in foreign diplomacy in 2021, including the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines, successes in economic diplomacy and his official expressions of concern over the worsening of the situation in Myanmar. She also shared Indonesia’s diplomatic outlook for the coming year, including her chairmanship of the Group of 20.

In response to the protracted crisis in Myanmar, Retno warned that ASEAN would find it difficult to accept the presence of the head of the military junta, Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, at one of the body’s meetings, unless ‘He can not prove his commitment to consensus in five points him and the leaders of ASEAN. agreed at the group’s emergency meeting in Jakarta in April last year.

President Jokowi has also made it clear that he has no intention of giving up his demand that the military junta abide by the consensus, which includes an immediate cessation of violence and a constructive dialogue involving all parties concerned to seek a peaceful solution in Myanmar.

On the COVID-19 front, government vaccine diplomacy has allowed the country to exceed the World Health Organization (WHO) target of immunizing at least 40 percent of the population, a product of strong coordination between ministries and state agencies and the careful use of international bargaining power.

In the field of economic diplomacy, Deputy Foreign Minister Mahendra Siregar has achieved notable successes, thanks to his extensive experience as a diplomat, former Deputy Minister of Commerce, former Deputy Minister of Finance and former President of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM). Retno cultivated strong teamwork and defined clear divisions of responsibilities between herself and her deputy.

It may be unfair to expect the Foreign Ministry to have made diplomatic inroads in the past year, as Indonesian missions abroad have been on lockdown to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. . But it’s equally reasonable for the public to raise the bar higher for the country’s diplomats this year – to demand more than routine diplomatic activities as the country struggles to make progress on a stubborn set of regional and global issues.