Amid the public's low expectations of Sugiono, this is the right time to prove the doubters wrong and that President Prabowo is correct in his choice of chief diplomat. Instead of asking his spokesman to speak on his behalf, the minister should now personally appear in public to explain substantive matters.

We call on the minister to use the yearly occasion to clarify a few controversial decisions and incidents involving the President.

These include Prabowo’s joint statement with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the waters of Natuna. It is a sensitive issue not just for Indonesia but also our neighboring countries, especially those who have overlapping claims in the South China Sea.

The walkout by Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as President Prabowo delivered his speech at the summit of the eight developing nations (D8) last month in Cairo also needs further explanation. The government has repeatedly said that it was simply a coincidence that Erdogan walked out when Prabowo delivered his speech, in which he strongly criticized the lack of trust and cooperation among Islamic or predominantly Muslim nations.

The minister must also clarify the reasons for his absence from the special meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers in Bangkok in December. The Foreign Ministry issued contradictory reasons for the minister's non-appearance, while this was a sensitive issue for Thailand as the host.

The upcoming press conference will also be the right time for him to explain in more detail policies that he disclosed just after his appointment, such as the revival of the Directorate General for Foreign Economic Cooperation, which was abolished about 23 years ago by then foreign minister Hassan Wirajuda. One of Hassan's reasons for the dissolution was that the office often acted like a ministry within the ministry.

We call on the minister to explain this in detail because this could be one of his policy breakthroughs. It is not easy to rebuild an office, especially in regard to personnel.  This newspaper has consistently urged the government to merge the Trade Ministry's Foreign Trade Directorate General into the Foreign Ministry to end prolonged overlapping authority between the two ministries. The trade minister would then focus solely on domestic trade.

As part of achieving Prabowo's national priorities, Sugiono has also revealed a program to expand the country's network beyond traditional trading partners, especially countries in Asia Pacific, the European Union, the United States and other Western countries. The idea is very positive, as Indonesia should be more creative in opening and intensifying new export markets.

However, the idea of opening new export markets is nothing new as it has been attempted by previous presidents, such as by achieving more intensive trade relations with non-traditional destinations in Latin America, Middle Eastern countries and African countries.  Past governments even tried occasionally to adopt barter methods for payment instead of using hard currency. But the results, in general, were not as expected.

The minister also should be able to dispel the public pessimism about the President's decision to appoint three deputies for Sugiono. Politician Anis Matta is expected to focus on diplomacy with Islamic nations and career diplomat Arrmanatha Nasir will mainly deal with the ministry's internal matters and multilateral affairs. In contrast, senior diplomat Arif Havas Oegroseno will lead the ministry's bilateral cooperation and international agreement negotiations.

The minister is also expected to calm anxious Indonesian diplomats and representatives, especially political figures, who were appointed by former president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo. There is a tradition in several countries, including the US, that non-career diplomat ambassadors resign when a new president comes to power.

We hope the minister will tell the public about the direction of Indonesia's foreign policy under President Prabowo in the short and long terms.