'Not a single name yet for ambassadorial post'
'Not a single name yet for ambassadorial post'
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas has
refuted reports that the government had selected a candidate to
serve as ambassador to Australia.
"At this time not a single name has been forwarded to the
President, in fact the foreign ministry has not even processed it
yet," Alatas said during a hearing with the House of
Representative's Commission I on foreign affairs and defense late
Wednesday night.
When later confronted with reports that former East Nusa
Tenggara governor Ben Mboi is a hot favorite for the post, Alatas
told journalists not to speculate.
The ambassadorial post in Canberra has been indefinitely
vacated after Jakarta withdrew the nomination of Lt. Gen. (ret.)
H.B.L. Mantiri in July.
Though the nomination had already been accepted by the
Australian government, several parliamentarians questioned the
nomination in connection with a past remark Mantiri made over the
1991 Dili incident.
In a magazine interview, Mantiri said the actions of security
forces in a clash which killed over 50 demonstrators were "quite
proper."
Wide scale public furor erupted there which lead Australian
Foreign Minister Gareth Evans to demand Mantiri's apology.
Jakarta said there was no need for the retired general to
apologize and then withdrew his nomination, thus leaving the
charge d'affaires, Zakaria Sumintaatmadja, as the highest ranking
official at the embassy.
After a meeting between President Soeharto and Prime Minister
Paul Keating in Bali on Sunday, Indonesian Minister/State
Secretary Moerdiono said a new ambassador would be appointed in
"not too long a time."
Alatas on Wednesday explained that Moerdiono's statement
should not be interpreted as meaning that Jakarta would
immediately send a new ambassador there.
Various media reports have tipped former governor Ben Mboi and
the vice chairman of the National Resiliency Institute
(Lemhannas) Juwono Sudarsono as possible nominees for the post.
"There aren't any names yet," Alatas said.
Commenting on the various comments by Australian politicians
and cabinet members which are at times indifferent to Indonesia,
Alatas told legislators that domestic demands often prompted
unfavorable exertions.
"Australian foreign policy is ambivalent because, like other
western democratic states when they near an election, comments
made are aimed at making a domestic impression," Alatas
explained.
"The fact that it also creates an impact outside is considered
a secondary consequence," he added.
To legislators, Alatas also affirmed Soeharto's attendance at
next month's Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Cartagena,
Colombia.
He said that 48 heads of state had confirmed their attendance
at the summit which will see Indonesia passing the chairmanship
to Colombia. (mds)