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Terawan tipped for ambassadorship as list of potential envoys surfaces
A leaked list of potential ambassador candidates circulated widely on Friday, sparking fresh debate on the necessity of political appointees.
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President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo (left) and then-health minister Terawan Agus Putranto speak to journalists on the COVID-19 outbreak at the State Palace in Central Jakarta, on March 2, 2020. (Antara/Sigid Kurniawan)
F
ormer health minister Terawan Agus Putranto, who was widely criticized as the man most responsible for Indonesia’s poor response to the COVID-19 crisis, has emerged on a list of names of potential Indonesian ambassadors due to be confirmed by lawmakers, highlighting the political horse trading involved in ambassadorial appointments.
Terawan was one of 31 names on a list of nominations that also included Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) chairman Rosan Roeslani, Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician and former forestry minister M. Prakosa and the managing director of diversified conglomerate Sinar Mas, Gandi Sulistiyanto.
According to the leaked list, which was circulated by sources close to the Foreign Ministry on Friday, Terawan has been nominated to serve as Indonesia’s ambassador to Spain.
Other political appointees have been tipped for strategic posts, including Rosan for the United States ambassadorship and PDI-P politician and moderate Islam scholar Zuhairi Misrawi for the post in Saudi Arabia.
A number of senior career diplomats who make up Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi’s cohort of close aides have also been proposed to fill important posts, including in Austria, Australia and India, as well as Indonesia’s permanent missions to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, and New York, the US.
The ministry would not confirm or deny the veracity of the list.
Read also: Without envoys lighting the way, Indonesia-US ties risk being stuck in murky waters
