Govt set to welcome Farmer

Govt set to welcome Farmer

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Indonesian government will likely accept Australia's choice
of former immigration department chief Bill Farmer as the
replacement for its envoy David Ritchie despite opposition from
several House of Representatives members.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said on Monday
that resistance to Farmer's appointment as a candidate for
Australian ambassador to Indonesia did not represent the official
stance of the legislative body.

"The opposition to Farmer only involves several legislators,
not the House of Representatives," Hassan said. "There has been
no case in our history that the House rejected incoming
ambassadorial candidates."

The Constitution entitles the House to give an opinion to the
government about the posting of foreign ambassadors. Now that the
House is in recess, the lawmakers will not respond to Australia's
choice until they regroup in mid-August.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard named Farmer to the
ambassadorial post in Jakarta. The move has sparked a controversy
in the House, with some lawmakers saying Farmer was responsible
for the poor treatment of Indonesians in Australia.

Outspoken National Mandate Party lawmaker Djoko Susilo said
that under Farmer's leadership, the Australian immigration
department "was biased if not tending to be racist".

He cited cases of senior Indonesian government officials,
invited by Canberra, as being "rudely" treated by immigration
officials in Australia, "simply because their names appear Muslim
and that they are Indonesians".

Farmer's appointment has also sparked a controversy at home,
as he was named to the new job just days before the government
released a scathing official report last week into a series of
blunders and injustices by the immigration department.

Howard has defended his preference, however, saying he had
discussed Farmer's appointment with Indonesia before it was
publicly announced.

Jakarta is also processing the replacement of its envoy to
Australia, Imron Cotan, who will be promoted as a first echelon
official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

A ministry spokesman said that President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono was looking for a diplomat who was able to further
boost ties between the two neighbors.