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