Foreign Office has new spokesman<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Diplomat Ghaffar Fadyl was installed yesterday
\nas the new spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, an
\nincreasingly important post as Indonesia seeks to play a more
\nproactive role in international diplomacy.<\/p>\n
Ghaffar's predecessor as Director of Information, Irawan
\nAbidin, will soon assume his new post as Indonesia's ambassador
\nto the Republic of Greece. Irawan served as the chief spokesman
\nof the ministry for two years.<\/p>\n
Ghaffar, 53, was swore in by Director General for Social,
\nCultural and Information Affairs Djauhari Nataatmadja in a
\nceremony at the ministry's Jl. Pejambon office building
\nyesterday.<\/p>\n
Ghaffar was formerly head of the sociopolitical section at the
\nIndonesian Embassy in Vienna, Austria, between 1991 and 1995. He
\nalso served as the information officer of the Indonesian Embassy
\nin Moscow between 1984 and 1988.<\/p>\n
Before joining the foreign service, he worked as a reporter at
\nthe Jakarta bureau of Agence France Presse between 1967 and 1971,
\nand before that was part of the editorial staff of the now-
\ndefunct Indonesian Standard daily.<\/p>\n
The role of the ministry's spokesman has assumed greater
\nimportance in the last two years, not only in providing
\ninformation and disseminating Indonesia's foreign policies, but
\nalso in countering the growing negative media reports by critics
\nof Indonesia abroad.<\/p>\n
Irawan, for example, has been active in stating Jakarta's
\npolicy on East Timor, an issue that has continued to hound
\nIndonesia in international diplomacy.<\/p>\n
After Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas, the spokesman
\nhas become the most sought after official at the ministry,
\nparticularly by foreign media, to explain the government's
\nposition on various issues.<\/p>\n
Djauhari in his speech asked the new spokesman to be more
\nactive in countering disinformation campaigns and distortions of
\nnews launched abroad which show Indonesia in an unfavorable
\nlight.<\/p>\n
He urged Ghaffar to strengthen coordination and improve
\ncommunication with all information officers at all Indonesian
\nembassies.<\/p>\n
It is no longer enough for information officers to master
\ncommunication methods and techniques, Djauhari said.<\/p>\n
They should not only wait to counter misleading information
\nabout Indonesia, but also develop their own network of media
\npeople to feed in information about Indonesia, he said.<\/p>\n
He also underlined that human rights, democracy and
\nenvironmental protection have now become issues that are often
\nused by critics abroad to try to discredit Indonesia.<\/p>\n
The ministry, in cooperation with the Ministry of Information
\nand other government agencies, is currently in the process of
\nestablishing a media center through which all information about
\nIndonesia will be distributed to both local and foreign media.
\n(rms)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/foreign-office-has-new-spokesman-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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