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Prabowo appoints new envoys, extends wait for key posts
The President has left several key ambassadorial posts vacant, prompting analysts to question the former military general’s long-term geopolitical plans.
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President Prabowo Subianto (right) and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka (second right) take turns congratulating the new ambassadors-elect for Indonesian diplomatic missions following an appointment ceremony at the State Palace in Jakarta on March 24, 2025. The President formally appointed 31 envoys following months of speculation and confirmation hearings at the House of Representatives. (Antara/Galih Pradipta)
P
resident Prabowo Subianto appointed 31 new envoys on Monday, consisting of career diplomats and political appointees, while still leaving several key positions vacant, prompting analysts to question the former military general’s long-term plans.
The newly minted ambassadors will be stationed across a wide range of countries from Asia and Europe to the Middle East, some of which double as top spots for international humanitarian agencies under the United Nations.
From the ranks of the diplomatic corps, Foreign Ministry secretary-general Cecep Herawan was appointed to represent the nation in South Korea, stationed in Seoul. Another career diplomat and senior advisor to the foreign minister, Muhsin Syihab, will represent Indonesia in Canada and at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Both men symbolically received their letters of appointment from the President.
Meanwhile, several other appointees have political ties to Prabowo and his immediate predecessor, Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, including former presidential staffer Siti Ruhaini Dzuhayatin as the next envoy to Uzbekistan, retired senior intelligence official Chandra Sukotjo as the ambassador to Pakistan and former Constitutional Court justice Manahan Sitompul as Indonesian ambassador to Bosnia-Herzegovina.
From Prabowo’s own Gerindra Party, former lawmaker Susi M. Bachsin was appointed the country’s new envoy to Portugal, based out of Lisbon.
Meanwhile, keen observers have been keeping tabs.
“There do seem to be shades of Prabowo’s coalition in these ambassadorial spots,” Andrea Abdul Rahman Azzqy, an international relations lecturer at Budi Luhur University, told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
