Video: Indonesia's 'Burden' Regarding Islam and Democracy

During his appearance at Asia Society in New York on Thursday, Indonesia Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa fielded a question from the event's web audience, which asked whether Indonesia could be seen as a democratic model for other Muslim-majority countries like Egypt and Tunisia. You can watch Natalegawa's complete response above, and we have transcribed a snippet below.

"Indonesia is now having the burden … to prove that Islam, democracy and development or modernity can go hand in hand," said Natalegawa, who acknowledged that governments in North Africa and the Middle East had reached out to Indonesia seeking advice. "We are quite modest in not wanting to extrapolate or project our own national experience elsewhere. There is no one-size-fits-all. But at the same time lessons can be learned, in terms of failings especially."

He continued, "We recognize democratization is a process, not an event. There will be ebb and flow, and Indonesia went through it, is going through it still. Hopefully the people of these countries have the resilience and the patience in persevering with the democratic experience."

You can watch complete video of Natalegawa's Asia Society appearance at Asia Society New York's blog.