Foreign affairs ministry to appoint new officials
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda will swear in on Friday officials who will be filling eight of the 10 first echelon posts in the newly revamped structure of the foreign ministry.
According to information obtained by The Jakarta Post, while the organizational structure and the breadth of responsibility of the posts are different, many of the officials chosen to fill those posts are familiar faces who have held similar level posts in the ministry before.
Making the whole affair resemble a recycling process, all but one of the eight officials has previously held a top echelon or ambassadorial post.
The ushering in of the eight officials is part of the major organizational revamp currently underway at the foreign affairs ministry.
Reportedly, the two remaining vacant top echelon posts -- the inspector general and director general for consular affairs -- will be filled as soon as President Megawati Soekarnoputri signs the presidential decrees.
Under the already announced new structure, the ministry will have seven director generals, an inspector general, a secretary- general and head of a policy research and development department.
Two directorate generals will be based on geographic responsibility -- Asian, Pacific and African affairs; and Europe and the Americas.
And one will be specifically dedicated to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN).
Two separate directorate generals will be created to deal with multilateral affairs -- one for political, social and security affairs; the other for economic, financial and developmental affairs.
There will also be a directorate general charged with information, public diplomacy and international agreements, and another for consular affairs.
The restructuring is designed to improve the Ministry of Foreign Affairs performance, putting a greater emphasis and bureaucratic division on geographical areas to allow directorates to be more focused.
The restructuring was initially expected to be completed in April, to be followed by a review of Indonesia's representative offices around the world.
And in a related development, the President is expected to inaugurate seven new Indonesian ambassadors at the State Palace on Friday.
Foreign Ministry Reshuffle
(NAME - NEW POST - PREVIOUS POST)
Sudjadnan Parnohadiningrat - Secr. General - Amb. to Australia, Makarim Wibisono - Dir. Gen. Asia, Pacific and Africa - Dir. Gen. Foreign Economic Relations, Arrizal Effendy - Dir. Gen. Americas and Europe - Secr. General, A. Matalitty - Dir. Gen. ASEAN Coop. - Dir. Gen. ASEAN Coop., Makmur Widodo - Dir. Gen. Multilateral Affairs I (Politics) - Permanent Rep. to UN in New York Susanto Sutoyo - Dir. Gen. Multilateral Affairs II (Economics) - Amb. to New Zealand, Mangasi Sihombing - Dir. Gen. for Public Diplomacy & Int'l Agreements - Deputy Chief of Mission to Canberra Ibrahim Yusuf - Chief of Policy Planning Amb. to UAE
New RI Envoys
(Names - Country):
T.A. Samodra Sriwidjaja - Austria and Slovenia, I Gusti Ngurah Swetja - Peru, Theo Waemuri - Namibia, Yusbar Djamil - Brunei Darussalam, Ahlan B. Rajis - Laos, Alwis Azizat Murad - Ethiopia, Abdul Naseer - South Africa