Sixteen ambassadorial posts vacant

Sixteen ambassadorial posts vacant

JAKARTA: An official with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said
on Wednesday that 16 ambassadorial posts overseas were vacant as
their respective envoys had finished their terms.

The ministry's secretary-general Soedjatman Parnohadiningrat
said that the ministry had finished picking candidates to fill
the vacant positions. "We will give the names to President
Megawati. She is expected to hand over the names to the House of
Representatives for approval soon," he told reporters here.

He expected that in the beginning of May, the House could hold
a hearing to decide who among the candidates would assume the
vacant posts, for key countries such as France, Germany, Italy
and Canada.

Soedjatman said that most of the candidates for the
ambassadorial posts had served in the foreign affairs ministry.
"However, there are around 25 candidates with no foreign affairs
ministry background," he said, adding that there would be no
preferential treatment given to candidates from the ministry
itself. -- JP