Jakarta – The post of Indonesian ambassador to Australia remains unfilled because of a political struggle in Jakarta over who appoints the country's diplomats.

Indonesia's Department of Foreign Affairs has refrained from nominating a new ambassador after the outgoing envoy, Sudjadnan Parnohadiningrat, was last month recalled early to be promoted in Jakarta.

"I don't want to over-analyse this or add an element of intrigue to it ... the thing is we just need to find a nominee and they [the parliament] will process it," department spokesman Marty Natalegawa said.

He said the Indonesian mission in Canberra was being run by Charge d'Affaires Imam Cotan, an arrangement similar to missions in London and Tokyo.

But retired Indonesian diplomats attributed the hesitance to nominate an ambassador to Canberra to a stand-off with the parliament over who controls appointments.

Last month parliament's Foreign Affairs Commission rejected seven of the department's 27 candidates, including an ambassador to New Zealand, on the grounds they were either too old or not up to scratch.

Parliament has had a say in ambassadorial appointments – representing both Indonesia and other countries – since a constitutional amendment in 1999 said the parliament must consider candidates.

The new arrangement led to a delay in the arrival of Australia's current ambassador to Indonesia, Ric Smith, by several months. The rejection of candidates was a symptom of parliament imposing its powers on the government after the fall of Suharto in 1998, according to international law specialist and former diplomat Hasjim Djalal.

"Paying attention to the DPR's opinion now means that the opinions from the DPR must be obeyed by the Government," Professor Djalal, who has served as ambassador to Germany and Canada, said.

"If you ask me personally, we should have an ambassador in Australia, it's a very important country. It's awkward in terms of diplomatic relations ... there should have been an ambassador as soon as possible."

Canberra is widely acknowledged as a difficult and important posting for Indonesia's diplomats. Last year, ambassador Sudjadnan was put to the test during the Australian election campaign, dealing with the issue of boat people.