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[COMMENTARY] Jokowi should send new ambassador to Washington ASAP
The ambassador is expected not just to promote Indonesia, but also take a leading role in advancing ASEAN along with the ambassadors of the other nine members of the bloc.
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Two US Marines take up positions on the West Front of the US Capitol as preparations are made prior to the 59th inaugural ceremony for President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris in Washington, DC on Jan. 20. (AFP/Andrew Caballero-Reynolds)
A
joke told by a veteran journalist about the appointment of the new United States ambassador to Indonesia to a key position in the State Department actually could be a teasing allusion to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, who brought home two new Indonesian ambassadors from Washington for appointment to his Cabinet within one year.
The journalist told his friends on Sunday that the newly installed US President Joe Biden succeeded in retaliating to President Jokowi’s moves. The Indonesian Embassy in Washington is generally perceived as Indonesia’s most important and prestigious representative office of the country abroad. The ambassador is expected not just to promote Indonesia, but also take a leading role in advancing ASEAN along with the ambassadors of the other nine members of the bloc.
“Biden is taking revenge on Jokowi by withdrawing his ambassador in Indonesia for his Cabinet,” my office colleague said in a WhatsApp group message, which he opened with “Hi, hi.”
Diplomatically, the withdrawal can be unpleasant for either host country, even though the envoys were pulled out for promotion. Luckily, then-Indonesian ambassador to the US Mahendra Siregar and his successor Muhammad Lutfi were recalled during the era of Donald Trump.
According to the US State Department official website, after his inauguration as the country’s 46th president on Jan. 20, Biden appointed US ambassador to Indonesia Sung Kim as acting assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs. Kim’s previous ambassadorial posting was in South Korea and the Philippines.
Ambassador Kim presented his credentials to President Jokowi on Oct. 21 last year, meaning he only served for three months in Jakarta. The career diplomat is regarded as the most senior US diplomat in charge of the Korean Peninsula nuclear crisis. His new post is a big promotion for him, although it remains unclear whether his job is permanent.
Lutfi was installed as trade minister on Dec. 23 last year, just three months after then-US president Trump accepted his credentials on Sept. 17. The former businessman had previously held various government positions, including chairman of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM), trade minister and ambassador to Japan.
