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Betreff: 'Ambassador Fauzi' Not Proving Popular
Datum: Wed, 30 Oct 2013 23:01:43 +0100
Von: "Watch Indonesia!" <watchindonesia@watchindonesia.org>
An: "Watch Indonesia!" <watchindonesia@watchindonesia.org>
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'Ambassador Fauzi' Not Proving Popular
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/ambassador-fauzi-not-proving-popular/
Saturday 26 October 2013 9:03pm WIB (JoyoNews1)
The Jakarta Globe
By Ari Susanto
photo: Former Jakarta governor Fauzi Bowo has
been named as Indonesia's ambassador to Germany.
(JG/Yudhi Sukma Wijaya)
Solo: Opposition to the appointment of Fauzi Bowo, the former Jakarta governor, as
Indonesia's ambassador to Germany continues to mount, with a group in Berlin urging German
President Joachim Gauck to reject Fauzi's credentials.
In a press release on Friday, the Indonesian Embassy Care Alliance said its letter to
Gauck described Fauzi's track record as worrying and listed the reasons for its
disapproval of his being named the country's main envoy to Europe's biggest economy.
"We thought that the German government should be informed for balance about Fauzi Bowo and
his track record as the former leader of Indonesia's capital, before they decide to give
him a letter of accreditation as the Indonesian ambassador in Berlin," said Erwin Sutanto,
the coordinator of the alliance.
He said his group was disappointed by Fauzi's smear campaign in his ultimately failed bid
for re-election in 2012.
Resorting to dirty tricks, including racial and religious slurs against Basuki Tjahaja
Purnama, now the deputy governor, showed that Fauzi was incapable of being the
representative for a pluralistic and multicultural society like Indonesia, the alliance
argued.
It also said that under Fauzi's watch, hard-line groups had flourished in Jakarta,
increasing the threat of intolerance and violence against minority groups.
The alliance has also launched a petition on Change.org, which 638 people have signed,
both in Indonesia and Germany.
"President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono once said Fauzi had achieved nothing, so why did he
appoint him to be the ambassador to Germany? Is it not an embarrassing choice?" said Dina
Sihombing, an Indonesian living in Berlin.
The Indonesian Students Association in Germany also took issue with the appointment when
it was made last month.
However, the former governor has received the blessing of former president B.J. Habibie,
an honorary German citizen. The two men are also German university alumni and speak German. <>
sign the petition at:
http://www.change.org/id/petisi/aliansi-peduli-kbri-jerman-berlin-tolak-fauzi-bowo-foke-menjadi-dubes-ri-di-jerman?share_id=PgOYigQMVg&utm_campaign=share_button_mobile&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=share_petition
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