Jokowi sends list of new ambassadorship candidates to House
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has submitted the names of 31 ambassador candidates to House of Representatives Commission I overseeing defense and foreign affairs.
According to a copy of the list seen by The Jakarta Post, nine of the 31 candidates have nondiplomatic backgrounds, with the majority comprising politicians and supporters of Jokowi’s 2019 presidential bid.
Former trade minister Muhammad Lutfi, who was on the Jokowi-Ma’ruf Amin campaign team, has been named as the ambassador candidate to the United States and Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician Heri Akhmadi is the ambassador candidate to Japan. Meanwhile, former Metro TVchief editor Suryopratomo has been touted as Indonesia’s top diplomat in Singapore.
Meanwhile, Golkar Party politician Roem Kono is the ambassador candidate to Bosnia and Herzegovina and Hildi Hamid, the former regent of North Kayong, West Kalimantan, who was also on the Jokowi campaign team, is the ambassador candidate to Azerbaijan.
Jokowi has also named politicians from smaller parties who supported his reelection: Indonesian Justice and Unity Party (PKPI) treasurer and coal businessman Iwan Bogananta as the top envoy to Bulgaria, Albania and Macedonia, Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI) politician Mohamad Irzan Djohan to Oman and Crescent Star Party (PBB) deputy chairman Sukmo Harsono as ambassador candidate to Panama, Honduras, Costa Rica and Nicaragua.
The ninth candidate is Army Maj. Gen. (ret) Imam Edy Mulyono, proposed as the ambassador to Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Dominica and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
Commission I member Willy Aditya from the NasDem Party confirmed the veracity of the list of candidates, saying he received the same copy as the Post.
“Some of the [candidates] have a political background, but the majority are still Foreign Ministry officials,” he told the Post on Monday.
He added that the House was scheduled to hold a confirmation hearing after its recess period on June 12.
List of ambassador candidates
- Chalief Akbar Tjandraningrat for Algeria
- Elmar Iwan Lubis for Iraq
- Hildi Hamid for Azerbaijan
- Rachmat Budiman for Thailand and the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP)
- Andri Hadi for Belgium, Luxembourg and the European Union
- Lutfi Rauf for Egyptian Arabic
- Maj. Gen. (ret) Imam Edy Mulyono for Venezuela, Trinidad & Tobago, Grenada, St. Lucia, Dominica and St. Vincent & The Grenadines
- Dindin Wahyudin for Senegal, Mali, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Sierra Leone, Cote D’Ivoire, Gabon and Congo.
- Mayerfas for the Netherlands and the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)
- Ridwan Hassan for Qatar
- Denny Abdi for Vietnam
- Nana Yuliana for Cuba, Bahamas, Jamaica, Dominica and Haiti
- Ratu Silvy Gayatri for Finland and Estonia
- Adam Mulawarman Tugio for Pakistan
- Dewi Savitri Wahab for Denmark and Lithuania
- Desra Percaya for the United Kingdom, Ireland and the International Maritime Organization (IMO)
- Herry Sudrajat for Mozambique and Malawi
- Jose Antonio Morato Tavares for Russia and Belarus.
- Mohamad Irzan Djohan for Oman.
- Mohamad Hery Saripudin for Kenya, Congo, Mauritius, Seychelles, Somalia, Uganda and permanent representatives of UNEP and UN-HABITAT
- Sukmo Harsono for Panama, Honduras, Costa Rica and Nicaragua
- Agung Kurniadi for Ecuador
- Roem Kono for Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Suryopratomo for Singapore
- Iwan Bogananta for Bulgaria, Albania and Mekedonia
- Kamapradipta Isnomo for Sweden and Latvia
- Ronny Prasetyo Yuliantoro for Iran and Turkmenistan
- Laurentius Amrih Jinangkung for the Vatican
- Wisnu Edi Pratignyo for Namibia and Angola
- Heri Akhmadi for Japan
- Muhammad Lutfi for the United States
Sources : thejakartapost.com