SINGAPORE -- As the first Indonesian president to be elected through direct universal suffrage, and backed by a mandate from a considerable majority of Indonesian voters, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is injecting new energy into the 10-member Association for Southeast Asian Nations. Furthermore, by demonstrating that democracy can take root in a moderate Muslim country, Yudhoyono has proven Western skeptics wrong and given a welcome boost to ASEAN's reputation as a region of stability, development and progress.
Against the backdrop of Indonesia's political weight in ASEAN, Yudhoyono is asserting himself as a potential new leader of the region. This was demonstrated in his meeting with new Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong Lee in Jakarta on Nov. 8-9, when Yudhoyono set the agenda for improving Singapore-Jakarta relations. He is expected to play an important role at the ASEAN summit in Vientiane, Laos, on Sunday through Tuesday.
Yudhoyono's decision to fly to Cairo to attend the funeral of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, his first trip abroad since his inauguration, has helped burnish the credentials of the world's largest Muslim country.