RALLIES ONLY TO WORSEN AMBALAT PROBLEM : LEGISLATOR

Jakarta, June 17 (ANTARA) - The demonstration held in front of the Malaysia Embassy on Wednesday will only add further problems to the efforts of solving the Ambalat issue over which tensions have begun to ease, a legislator said.

"The meeting between the Indonesian parliament and its Malaysian counterpart last week resulted in several understandings that need to be followed up by the government. Therefore, people should no longer hold rallies because they will thereby only worsen the problem," Yusron Ihza Mahendra, deputy chairman of the House Commission I for foreign affairs, said here on Wednesday.

Thousands of demonstrators in black dresses demonstrated in front of the Malaysian embassy, chanted slogans calling for 'jihad' and unfurled banners which among other things read "Stop Provocative Actions."
Yusron said the demonstration against the Malaysian government would only complicate efforts to find a solution to the Ambalat issue and to the problems faced by Indonesian immigrant workers in the neighboring country.

"Solutions to the Ambalat issue and Indonesian migrant workers must be sought through diplomacy and in this case the role of the government is much needed," he said.

In this regard, Yusron asked the government not to delay any longer the talks on Ambalat with the Malaysian government in order to solve the problem.

After all, he said, the recent tension over the Ambalat Block in the Sulawesi Sea had begun to abate after a meeting between an Indonesian parliamentary delegation with the Malaysian defense minister in Kuala Lumpur recently.

He said the government's task now was to conclude an agreement with the Malaysian government to follow up the results of the recent meeting between the House Commission I and the Malaysian side.

Marzuki Darussman, another member of the House Commission I, said the president was at present spending more time on election campaigns and not enough time to a case which was threatening the country's territorial integrity.

"The government should act fast with regard to the Ambalat problem if it does not want the block to meet the same fate as Sipadan and Ligitan ," he said referring to two islands near the Malaysian border Indonesia had lost to the neighboring country.