Sri Edi for envoy to U.S.

Sri Edi for envoy to U.S.

As chairman of House of Representatives (DPR) Commission I for
foreign affairs, I still think that the government should
nominate another candidate for Indonesia's ambassador to the
United States, besides Sumadi Brotodiningrat, who will reach the
official retirement age within one year.

The House would also be in a better position to conduct a more
democratic and transparent selection if it is given the chance to
choose from at least two candidates. Several other members of my
commission such as Hajriyanto Thohari of the Golkar faction and
deputy chairman Aisyah Amini of the United Development faction
also share my view about the need for two candidates.

We need at least two candidates to be able to make the best
choice.

We think senior economist Sri Edi Swasono, a former leader of
the Indonesian Cooperatives Council and vanguard of the
grassroots economic movement, is another highly qualified
candidate for the position at the U.S. mission.

Our envoy to the U.S. should be an economics expert, who is
able to lobby for Indonesian interests, notably those with regard
to the development of the grassroots economy, and Sri Edi, who
has always fought for the empowerment of cooperatives, fits that
bill.

Even Soetardjo Soeryoguritno, House deputy speaker of the
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) faction,
also sees Sri Edi as the most qualified candidate for the U.S.
mission, especially because he is a U.S-trained economist and
still has an extensive network of contacts in that country.

Indonesian businesspeople, who have extensive business
contacts in the U.S., also support Sri Edi as the most suitable
candidate, who will be able to exert an effective lobby in
Washington where the International Monetary Fund and the World
Bank are headquartered.

Tony Agus Ardie, chairman of the United States Committee of
the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin), told me
recently that Sri Edi is most capable of communicating and
fighting for the interests of Indonesia's grassroots economy in
the U.S.

Tony told me that his monitoring of influential leaders in the
Senate and American business community also showed that they
would be much more comfortable having Sri Edi in the Indonesian
mission in Washington.

IBRAHIM AMBONG
Chairman of Commission I of DPR

Jakarta