President to install 20 ambassadors, Japan, UN posts remain empty
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
President Megawati Soekarnoputri is slated to inaugurate on Monday 20 new Indonesian ambassadors to fill positions among the currently empty 37 ambassadorial posts.
These ambassadorial candidates have gone through a months-long selection process, which also involved the House of Representatives.
"Most of these ambassadors are career diplomats and they will be inaugurated at the State Palace," an official at the Palace told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.
Several of them would fill in ambassadorial posts in some important countries, including the Netherlands, North Korea, Spain and Papua New Guinea, along with several South American countries.
However, two other important posts such as Japan and the Indonesian Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York would remain empty.
The Palace official said the government had actually appointed Abdul Irsan, a senior diplomat at the Foreign Ministry, to become ambassador in Tokyo, but the agreement letter was not yet available.
Abdul Irsan was among candidates the House considered not qualified to fill an ambassadorial post as was near retirement age.
As for the position in New York, the House suggested that the government appoint young and respected diplomat Rezlan Izhar Jenie.
The appointment of ambassadors has become one of the disputed points between the House and the government, especially the Foreign Ministry.
The amended 1945 Constitution requires the government to ask the House's opinion and consideration in every ambassadorial appointment.
The confirmation from the House has prolonged the selection process of candidates to up to six months.
Before the amendment, the government did not need to consult the House about ambassadorial candidates.
This slow process of confirmation from the House had been blamed for the many vacant positions, but the House refused to take the blame.
As the confirmation is something new in Indonesia, it often creates problem between the government and the House.
The latest fiasco happened a few months ago, when the House said eight out of the 26 candidates presented by the government were not appropriate for their designated positions.
Although the House had no authority to reject any appointment, such a move created problems as the government did not intend to heed the House's confirmation results.
Abdul Irsan is an example of the result of this flawed process.
Some officials have suggested that the government and the House find a better mechanism for selection, without causing any delay in the process.
Ambassadors to be inaugurated on Monday
Hendrati Sukendar Munthe (diplomat): North Korea, Hadromi Nakim (diplomat): Kuwait, Syamsuddin Yahya (diplomat): Sudan, Bachtiar Aly (lecturer): Egypt and Djibouti, Lajuris (diplomat): Yugoslavia, Sapartini Kuntjoro-jakti: Hungary, Bosnia and Croatia, Ibnu Sanyoto (diplomat): Poland, Muhammad Yusuf (diplomat): Netherlands, Hatanto Reksodiputro (bureaucrat): Norway and Iceland, Suwarno Atmoprawiro (diplomat): Chile, Suparmin Sunjoyo (diplomat): Suriname, Ahwil Luthan (police officer): Mexico, Panama and Honduras, Hasyim Saleh (diplomat): Uzbekistan, Kyrgistan and Tadjikistan, Santoso Rahardjo (diplomat): Czech Republic, Rachmat Ranudiwijaya (diplomat): Spain, Albert Matondang (diplomat): Fiji, Bintang Simorangkir (diplomat): Slovakia, Max Pangemanan (diplomat): Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, Yohanes Gerson Djopari (lecturer): Papua New Guinea, Pieter Taruyu Vau (diplomat): Brazil and Bolivia.