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View all search resultsWhy Indonesia's fifth Security Council bid needs public buy-in
Indonesia is ready to claim a fifth seat on the UN Security Council, but unless President Prabowo can convince ordinary citizens why it matters, the bid risks looking like little more than expensive diplomatic tourism.
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Foreign Minister Sugiono delivers his speech on Sept. 26 at the United Nations General Assembly high-level debate in New York City, the United States. (Handout/Foreign Ministry)
I
ndonesia's quest for a non-permanent United Nations Security Council seat for 2029-2030 is commendable. A fifth term would affirm the country's standing as a responsible middle power that wants to help write the rules, not just follow them.
But if President Prabowo Subianto is serious about the bid, his government must do a far better job than its predecessors of explaining to Indonesians why it matters. Foreign policy cannot remain an elite project run out of Pejambon.
Indonesia has served on the Council four times: 1973-1974, 1995-1996, 2007-2008 and 2019-2020. It has never lost a bid, though the road was not always smooth. The 1973 and 1995 terms were uncontested. In 2006, Indonesia beat Nepal 158 to 28 for the Asian seat. In 2018, it defeated the Maldives 144 to 46, the only contested race that year.
That record rests on two assets no campaign speech needs to invent.
The first is Indonesia's reputation as a bridge-builder, from the 1955 Asia-Africa Conference in Bandung to the Non-Aligned Movement to ASEAN's six decades of managing differences. Jakarta has made a virtue of keeping dialogue open when others walk out.
The second is peacekeeping. Indonesia is among the largest troop contributors to UN peace operations, a credential that gives moral weight to its claim to be, as earlier campaigns put it, "A True Partner for World Peace".
This time the calling card is different. On Sept. 26, at the 81st General Assembly, then-foreign minister Sugiono announced Indonesia's candidature under the theme "Fostering Unity, Advancing Peace". He framed it as part of a larger argument about a system under stress.
