Foreign affairs ministry to appoint new officials
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