DR (h.c.) JOHAN B. P. MARAMIS :
GLIMPSES OF MY DIPLOMATIC
CAREER
1. THE ROAD TO THE UNITED NATIONS
Early School years
Travelling down memory lane, I could still recall vividly some
events during my early school years.
Starting with Elementary School (Dutch Eerste Europese
Lagere School) in Manado I had to repeat the 5th grade since I was
not allowed to attend school for several times because of my frequent fights
with my school mates which included the late Sujatmoko who later became Rector
of the U.N. University in Tokyo and Ambassador to United States and the late
Henk Ngantung who became a painter and Governor of Great Jakarta.
I had also problems at Dutch Senior High School, K.W.III,
when I received six red marks in the 4th grade. The Director Dr.
Esbach even suggested to go to a Government high school (AMS)
But I refused and studied thoroughly to erase those red
marks and I succeeded and graduated without any red marks.
I was never a bright student and was already satisfied to
make the grades.
I was fortunate to receive a scholarship from the
Government of East Indonesia to study in Netherlands to strengthen the ranks of
the civil servants. I was already married - when my wife Nini and I left for
Netherlands in November 1946. I started my studies in Leyden university in January 1947 and was able to graduate in
14 March 1951. Nearly a year earlier, the Minister of Interior had yet no plans
for us and we were allowed to apply to other Ministries.
I applied for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since I had
already a taste for diplomacy when I assisted the Information section headed by
Wim Latumeten of the Republican Delegation during the Round Table Conference
held in December 1949 in the Hague.
It was a decision that proved to fulfil my true calling as
a diplomat.
I joined the Ministry on June 1, 1951. I was fortunate to
start my career by attending several regional conferences and global United
Nations forums which gave me the opportunity to learn how to manage such
conferences and to participate effectively in such forums.
Gradually I also learned the art of systematic lobbying
and to obtain the support and trust of several important countries including
the co-operation of U.N. Secretariat. Along the way I had to gain experiences
in chairing important conferences, mastering the rules of procedures and to
become a valuable and trusted partner in seeking compromise solutions to
pending problems. Ultimately I was able to manage important U.N. bodies such as
U.N. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and Economic and Social Commission
for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).
When Indonesia offered to host the next annual Session of
ECAFE (Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East) in Bandung in 1953 I was
appointed conference officer responsible for the smooth running of the
conference. Apparently I succeeded and received letters of commendation from
the Executive Secretary of ECAFE Dr. Lokonathan, the Foreign Minister Mr.
Moekarto Notowidigdo and the Finance Minister Dr. Sumitro Djojohadikusumo who
was also the Chairman of the Conference.
Mr. Moekarto even promised a reward that was extended to
me by Dr. Sunarjo who was Mr. Moekarto successor. Mr. Sunarjo appointed me as a
member of the Indonesian Delegation to the regular session of the UN general
assembly to be held in New York in 1953.
This was my first acquaintance with the United Nations.
One could imagine my feeling of pride and great anticipation that a very junior
official having served for less than three years I had been appointed as a
member of the Indonesian Delegation to the regular session of the United
Nations.
When I arrived in New York I was given the task to represent
Indonesia at the Special Political Committee of the General Assembly. I had to
make my first statement on the item “South West Africa” which much later became
independent Namibia. I had to study thoroughly the history and the present
developments of the territory.
In my maiden speech I strongly supported the advisory
opinion of the International Court of Justice in 1950 that South Africa the
administrator of South West Africa should do the utmost to promote social
progress of the inhabitants as a sacred trust of civilization and that the
United Nations should exercise the supervisory functions of the League of
Nations. I strongly condemned the oppression and exploitation of the people and
demanded the early independence of the territory.
South Africa however refused to accept the Court’s opinion
and over the ensuing 15 years opposed any form of UN supervision. Before my
maiden speech I was naturally very nervous and could hardly sleep the night
before. I was somehow able to mobilize my courage to deliver my first speech in
a world forum, which helped to boost my self-confidence tremendously.
I decided without consulting the government to run for one
of the vacant Asian seat on the Governing Council of the Special Fund
The first thing I set out to do was to mobilize enough
votes to be elected since India was also running for re-election. I knew I had
to receive the affirmative votes of the big powers and influential members of
different geographical groupings like Latin America, Africa and Europe. I laid
my plans to lobby those countries carefully. Fortunately I had the advantage
that India was seeking re-election and was so confident that it completely
ignored my efforts. I carefully pointed out how frequently India had served in the
past but how especially a large country such as Indonesia had never previously
occupied a seat on the Council. The result of the vote was indeed in favour of
Indonesia. I was delighted and also proud that my intensive lobbying had paid
off.
Another example of effective lobbing was done when I
proposed Foreign Minister Adam Malik for the post of President of the General
Assembly in 1971. I persuaded successfully Adam Malik with the help of his late
advisor Mr. Elkana Tobing to run for the Presidency. That was the year for an
Asian President that rotated every 5 years among the 5 geographical regions. I
succeeded in convincing the Asian group to support Adam Malik. Indonesia was
fortunate already to be known internationally for its role in the Asian African
Conference, the Non-Alignment Movement, the establishment of the IGGI and the
ASEAN regional grouping.
In the beginning I had faced some difficulties since the
Saudi Arabian Ambassador sponsored Princess Asraf the twin sister of the Shah
of Iran. Fortunately Iran had already occupied the Presidency in 1950 by
Foreign Minister Entezam.
I made fully use of that event and ultimately succeeded to
have Adam Malik to become the sole candidate of Asia and was subsequently
elected as President of the 26th regular session of the General
Assembly in 1971.
Effective and systematic lobbying is one of the
important tools of diplomacy. My first
lesson taught me that choosing the right timing to act, good planning and
perseverance will ultimately prevail.
During my first assignment at the United Nations
(1960-1965) I was already elected to chair several important conferences such
as UN Capital Development Fund, AD-Hoc Committee on the co-ordination of
technical assistance programmes which led to the establishment of United
Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Group of 77 developing countries.
With those experiences behind me, I was elected Vice
President (1969) and subsequently President of Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)
(1970) during my second assignment as Deputy Permanent Representative to UN
with the rank of Ambassador (1969-1972)
Those position I believed were mainly due to my ability to
establish close and friendly relations with a number of important countries and
members of the Secretariat and my efforts to seek compromises on important
issues.
When I was President of ECOSOC for example under my
guidance the Council adopted a resolution on the Second United Nations
Development Decade despite the existence of divergent views on international
development strategies. I did it by persuasion and calling for informal
meetings to iron out difficulties. The Council also adopted other important
resolutions such as calling for the establishment of an United Nations Volunteers
Program. The program provided an opportunity for younger professionals in
international and national development programs to gain experience in
international and national development programs and to share their experience.
In my early years while attending
several international conferences I discovered that the Secretariat played an
important role in conference implementation. During my first annual session of
ECAFE in 1974, I had not only proposed to change the name into ESCAP to give
greater importance to geographical/political balance and the social dimension
of development but I also proposed to establish an Advisory Committee of
Permanent Representatives to ESCAP (ACPR). Both proposals were unanimously
approved.
I was determined to have regular and
intensive dialogues with the member countries through the Advisory Committee to
give me advice on important activities I would initiate. Several important
changes were indeed made as the result of this co-operation.
Innovative changes were made in the
conference structure and ESCAP’s work program, the establishment of the Asian
and Pacific Development Centre designed to serve as a think tank for the region
which was the brain child of Mr. Sudjakmoko whom I recruited as special
consultant, the establishment of a Sub-regional office of ESCAP in the Pacific to encourage greater
sense of involvement of the Pacific islands countries and other important
initiatives were easily adopted thanks to those dialogues
As a by-product I was able to raise
considerable extra budgetary resources in the form of voluntary contribution
from the member countries to finance other ESCAP’s expanded programs because of
their trust in me. It is indeed vital to have regular and constructive dialogues
with your constituents.
Two difficult assignments
The first one related to encourage
China to play a more active role in ESCAP. China was re-admitted as a member of
the United Nations during Mr Adam Malik’s Presidency in 1971 but in ESCAP’s forum
China was acting as an observer only and rarely raising its voice.
I was determined to have China actively
participate in ESCAP’s activities. This was indeed one of my commitments to
change the name into ESCAP to bring the Pacific countries and countries
bordering the Pacific in particular China and Vietnam into the mainstream of
ESCAP’s activities. ECAFE’s activities were more Asia oriented like the Asian
Highways, an Asian Railroad projects.
I visited China three times and
included several of my division’s chiefs to give extensive briefings of ESCAP’s
work programs and activities. I even offered China an important post as
division chief. Our efforts ultimately paid off and China chose the position of
Chief of the Natural Resources division for one of their experts and promised
to hold several workshops and seminars in their country that they did. They
also discussed with me their bilateral relations with Indonesia, They were
eager to normalize their relation with Indonesia. I conveyed their messages to
my government and indeed several years later Indonesia normalized its relation
with China.
ESCAP requested me to revive the Mekong
river basin project which was disbanded by Vietnam during the Viertnamese war.
The project involving 4 riparian countries Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam
had as its objective building of dams to increase electricity supply, increase
rice and fish cultivation and improving its waterways. The Thai government in particular was eager to revive
the project and normalize their relation with their one time enemy.
I had to engage in shuttle diplomacy to
remove their respective suspicions and encouraged both sides to build a river
of peace and pave the way for peace, tranquillity and trust in the region for
the well being of the whole region.
Ultimately Vietnam agreed to establish
an interim tripartite agreement involving three riparian countries Laos,
Thailand and Vietnam as a start. The other riparian countries could join at a
later stage.
I achieved the art of compromise, which
helped me in my future endeavours.
Recommendations
As I approach my sunset years, it is my
fervent hope that my experiences would be useful to all who wish to journey on
the same road to diplomacy as I have embarked upon
As I mentioned before the
essential elements of a successful UN diplomat:
-
intensive knowledge of the issues under consideration
-
a good sense of timing to act
-
familiarity with the rules of procedures of UN
-
close rapport with important UN members as well as members of
the UN Secretariat to gain their trust.
-
efforts to seek compromises on important issues
-
a good command of English or other official language of UN
-
an abiding and deep sense of self-confidence.
Indeed those qualities seemed a tall task. But I believe with
perseverance and will to succeed will help in obtaining these ideals.
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