House's role in selecting ambassadors draws criticism
House's role in selecting ambassadors draws criticism
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Pressure has been mounting to rethink the House of
Representatives' role in selecting ambassadors after legislators
declared last week that seven candidates were unfit, leaked their
names to the press and voiced an interest in taking up the
ambassadorial posts themselves.
"The legislature is going too far and are interfering with the
executive's task," political observer Arbi Sanit of the
University of Indonesia said on Tuesday.
The selection and appointment of ambassadors, he said, was the
President's prerogative.
Article 13 of the amended 1945 Constitution requires the
government to "seek the opinion of the House of Representatives"
before sending envoys abroad.
In last week's closed-door meeting with the 27 candidates, the
House's Commission I, which oversees political affairs, decided
that seven candidates were unfit. All are career diplomats.
The decision is non-binding, yet drew criticism anyway,
notably for dropping several senior diplomats off the list, and
later for leaking the names of those candidates to the press.
Some questioned the House's competence to conduct a "fit-and-
proper-test" for candidates who were already screened by the
Foreign Affairs Ministry.
Legislators turned down an ambassadorial candidate to Japan,
senior diplomat and ambassador, Abdul Irsan because at age 60 he
was deemed too old.
Rezlan Izhar Jenie is in his early 50s, but deemed too young
to become Indonesia's permanent representative to the UN in New
York, according to them.
Legislators said they wanted Rezlan to take up an
ambassadorial post in a country first before aiming for the UN.
Ambassadorial candidates Hardikun Supandar for Algeria and
Muniroh for New Zealand were also deemed too old.
The other three candidates were Sri Wahyuni M. Tadjudin for
Sri Lanka, Suherman Bon for Syria and Cyprus and Bambang
Indrojuwono for Venezuela.
An official at the Foreign Ministry said candidates had their
resumes approved during a meeting of echelon I officials.
"Our selection process is tight. If just one of our echelon
officers (one rank below the minister) rejects a name then that's
pretty much it," he said.
Arbit said the Constitution should be correctly seen as
seeking the support of legislators. "The government should be
entrusted with doing the fit and proper test and not the other
way around."
He further questioned claims by members of Commission I that
they were more qualified to become ambassadors than the
diplomats.
Arbit added that there should be rules for legislators who
evaluate ambassadors, while harboring ambitions for such posts
themselves. "There is obviously a conflict of interest."
Yasril Ananta Baharuddin, a Commission I member and former
foreign ministry staff member, said that the legislators's task
was to submit their views to the government and that was it.
"We only expect the government to listen to our consideration,
we are doing what the Constitution demands from us," he said.
Yasril lambasted the critics against his commission's work as
failing to understand the Constitution.
He further defended the possibility of a Commission I
legislator becoming an ambassador, reasoning the post was a
political position and therefore open to every Indonesian
citizen.