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.