Soemadi nominated as RI ambassador to U.S.
Kurniawan Hari and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Indonesia confirmed on Friday that Soemadi Brotodiningrat, the incumbent ambassador to Japan, was the sole candidate for the position of Indonesian ambassador to the United States.
State/Cabinet Secretary Bambang Kesowo, when asked whether Soemadi's name had been proposed to the House of Representatives, replied: "Yes, we have submitted the name to the House. We just have to wait for the House to process it."
House secretary-general Sri Sumarjati said that she had received two letters from the State Secretariat on the nomination of ambassadors for Washington and Riyadh.
"I forget the exact date, but I think I received the letters last week. The letters will be brought for deliberation to a plenary meeting on Tuesday," Sumarjati said.
Based on the amended 1945 Constitution, the president should first consult the House on the appointment of ambassadors and envoys.
The names of candidates are then submitted to House Commission I on defense and foreign affairs for further assessment.
Sumarjati confirmed the letters concerned the nomination of Soemadi for the Washington post and Maftuh Basyuni, incumbent ambassador to Kuwait, to fill in the vacant ambassadorial post in Riyadh.
Soemadi, born in Surakarta, Central Java, on June 13, 1941, was a senior diplomat at the foreign ministry and has a long record of serving as Indonesian envoy in various countries since 1965.
Before assuming his current post in Japan on Oct. 20, 1998, he was the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' director general for foreign economic relations.
Prior to that, he was the chief representative to the United Nations in Geneva and a top official of the Indonesian permanent mission to the UN in New York.
The ambassadorial post in Washington has been vacant since Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti was appointed coordinating minister for the economy in President Megawati Soekarnoputri's Cabinet in August.
The announcement of the nominee for Indonesian envoy to Washington was not made public until Friday because Jakarta had been waiting for the appointment of new U.S. ambassador to Indonesia, Ralph Leo Boyce, who submitted his credentials on Oct. 24.
The post in Riyadh was left vacant following the appointment of Baharuddin Lopa as justice minister in February during the tenure of former president Abdurrahman Wahid.
No information is available on who will replace Soemadi and Maftuh in Tokyo and Kuwait City respectively.
Soemadi Brotodiningrat's previous postings
1988-present: Ambassador to Japan, 1995-1998: Director general for foreign economic relations, 1991-1995: Permanent representatives to the UN in Geneva, 1988-1991: Director for multilateral economic relations, 1978-1992: First secretary to the UN in New York