[COMMENTARY] Jokowi should send new ambassador to Washington ASAP

Kornelius Purba
The Jakarta Post

PREMIUM

Jakarta / Sun, January 24, 2021 / 10:23 pm

[COMMENTARY] Jokowi should send new ambassador to Washington ASAP

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...