New RI ambassadors to be inaugurated today
New RI ambassadors to be inaugurated today
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The government is scheduled on Thursday to install envoys in a
number of posts, including those in Australia and Russia, which
have been vacant for almost a year.
However, as of Wednesday evening only seven of the 16
presidential decrees on the appointments had been completed,
according to the State Secretariat.
The current deputy chief of mission of the Indonesian embassy
in Canberra, Imron Cotan will be inaugurated as ambassador.
Senior journalist and former chief editor of The Jakarta Post
Susanto Pudjomartono will also be inaugurated as ambassador to
Russia.
In 1991, former chief editor of the Post, Sabam Siagian, was
appointed as Indonesian ambassador to Canberra.
These positions have been vacant for almost a year, due to the
new regulation of the amended 1945 Constitution, which requires
the recommendation of the House of Representatives.
The right to appoint the country's representative or to accept
foreign ambassadors used to be the prerogative of the president.
Under the new ruling, all ambassadorial candidates must pass
the House screening test, whereby their mission statement must be
presented to the House members.
The regulation has created dissenting opinions between the
House and the government regarding the selection of candidates,
which has often delayed the appointment process. According to
international custom an ambassadorial post should not be vacant
for more than three months.
The House and the government had tried to work out these
differences and to find easier procedures for appointing
ambassadors.
As of Wednesday evening, in the state ceremony on Thursday at
the presidential palace, President Megawati Soekarnoputri is
scheduled to inaugurate seven ambassadors.
"But we are still waiting for the rest of the presidential
decrees to be signed by the president, because we had prepared
decrees for 16 ambassadors," a state secretary official told The
Jakarta Post.
The official, requesting anonymity, said that there was a
possibility that early Thursday morning the decrees for the
remaining nine appointed ambassadors would be delivered from
Megawati's desk. "But we cannot say for certain whether the
decrees will be finalized tomorrow morning," the official added.
LIST OF AMBASSADORS TO BE INAUGURATED
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NAMES COUNTRIES
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Imron Cotan Australia
Perwito Rini Denmark, Lithuania
Faiza Hassan Greece
Abdul Wahid Qatar
Susanto Pudjomartono Russia
Bambang Prayitno Vatican
Ratna Artha Ulli Vietnam
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