House silent over Australian envoy

House silent over Australian envoy

JAKARTA: The post of Australian ambassador to Jakarta remains
vacant as the Indonesian House of Representatives has yet to give
its approval for the posting.

The position has been vacant for the past two months since
Richard W. Smith was appointed Australian secretary of defense
and returned to Canberra.

"The process is still being discussed in the House,"
Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Marty Natalegawa
said on Monday.

The House has the power to put forward considerations on the
appointment of Indonesian ambassadors to foreign countries or
foreign representatives here based on the amended 1945
Constitution.

The new rules often create misunderstandings between the
government and the House, and have been condemned as hampering
the process of appointing ambassadors.

International convention dictates that an ambassadorial
appointment is considered rejected if the host country does not
respond in three months. -- JP