KUALA LUMPUR – The government is set to appoint a career diplomat as its new representative in neighbouring Indonesia sometime soon, according to the republic’s ambassador to Malaysia, Hermono.
“I was told that the new candidate (is ready),” he said during a podcast session with BFM News today.
When quizzed on whether he could reveal anything on the new nominee, Hermono declined to divulge too much information, only saying: “I heard that (the candidate) is a career diplomat.”
Hermono also expressed his hopes for the Malaysian government to hasten the process of affirming the envoy’s status, noting that he had conveyed knowledge of the new appointment to Indonesia’s Foreign Affairs headquarters in Jakarta.
“I already convinced Jakarta that Malaysia is not trying to send a negative message (by delaying sending over an ambassador)...Malaysia is (actually) appointing a new ambassador,” he said.
Commenting on the initial move to appoint Pasir Salak MP Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman as ambassador to Indonesia, Hermono said that Indonesian authorities had never interfered in other countries’s process of selecting their preferred envoys.
“When (Tajuddin) was selected, we knew there was a lot of controversy and comments but we already gave our agreement (on Tajuddin’s appointment),” he explained, stressing that there were no objections to the naming of the Umno lawmaker.
Earlier in June, Tajuddin, who is the government’s backbencher chief, had reportedly confirmed receiving an invitation to Istana Negara for his official appointment to Indonesia in a ceremony scheduled for 2pm on June 20.
However, in a statement on June 20, Comptroller of the Royal Household Datuk Ahmad Fadil Shamsuddin said the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah had then been receiving treatment in hospital and has postponed all his programmes in the near future.
On July 12, Tajuddin was reportedly dropped from the list of envoys who were scheduled to receive their appointment letters from the king.
The selection of the outspoken Umno lawmaker has been a point of contention after his much-criticised handling of the Light Rail Transit collision in May last year.
Tajuddin’s omission comes despite Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob having stated on July 2 that calling for the Umno veteran’s appointment to be retracted is akin to going against the monarch’s wishes.
He added that since the appointment had been approved by the cabinet with the king’s consent, it would be unwise to question the matter. – The Vibes, September 29, 2022
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