T

he House of Representatives will conduct a "fit and proper" test on Wednesday for 22 candidates nominated by the President for ambassadorial positions in countries in Asia, Europe, Africa and North America.

"The fit and proper test will be held from Wednesday to Friday at the House. It will be a closed door meeting," Theo L. Sambuaga, chief of the House of Representatives' Commission I, told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

According to a government official, the expected appointments will be as follows: Soehardjono Sastromihardjo, the Foreign Ministry's director for Information and Media, will be appointed as ambassador to Cambodia; the ministry's secretary general, Imron Cotan, will go to China; Indonesia's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations in New York, Adityawidi Adiwoso, will go to Spain; Indonesia's deputy permanent representative for the United Nations in Geneva, I Gusti Wesaka Puja, will go to Austria; legislator Djoko Susilo will go to Romania; chief of the foreign ministry's policy development and research agency, Artauli Ratna Menara Panggabean Tobing, will go to France; the ministry's inspector general, Dienne H. Moehario, will go to Canada; the ministry's director for African Affairs, Sudirman Haseng, will go to Nigeria; the ministry's director for South and Central Asia affairs, Mohammad Asruchin, will go to Uzbekistan; and Indonesia's current ambassador to Cambodia, I Gede Ngurah Swajaya, will serve as ambassador to ASEAN. Under the new ASEAN Charter, member-states and dialogue partners are required to appoint an envoy or permanent representative to ASEAN.

Other as yet unnamed candidates will go to Zimbabwe, South Africa and Morocco.