Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The House commission overseeing foreign affairs criticized a list of ambassador candidates on Tuesday, accusing the President of turning foreign postings into "presents" for former aides.

Members of House of Representatives Commission I hinted they might be at odds with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono over several names on the list because of their track records and perceived competence.

The commission's deputy chairman, Yusron Ihza Mahendra, confirmed members had received the list of 13 ambassador candidates from the President. Yusron said "fit and proper tests" were scheduled for Nov. 26 and 27 to assess the qualifications of the candidates.

He declined to provide the names of the candidates, but several legislators questioned the President's decision to nominate former aides for important ambassadorial posts.

They said they saw no reason for the President to nominate former minister of state enterprises Sugiharto for a posting in London, former attorney general Lt. Gen. (Ret) Andi Ghalib for New Delhi and former National Police chief Gen. (ret.) Da'i Bachtiar for a posting in Kuala Lumpur.

"The President has his own prerogative to appoint new ambassadors, but we also have our constitutional right not to approve several names on the list and to assess whether they are qualified for certain countries or not," said Yusron.

He particularly questioned the nomination of former justice and human rights minister Hamid Awaluddin and Sugiharto, saying they did not have the track records for such foreign assignments. "The ambassadorial jobs should not be given as presents to the two former ministers because it could damage Indonesia's image overseas."

Syarief Hasan of the Democratic Party and Yuddy Chrisnandi of the Golkar Party said they would question the candidates to determine if they were qualified.

Yuddy accused the President of prioritizing loyalty over competence in nominating candidates for several strategic overseas postings.

He said Yudhoyono should appoint qualified diplomats to Britain, India and Malaysia because of their strategic importance and international roles.

"It is quite strange that the President wants to appoint Sugiharto to Britain to replace highly qualified ambassadors such as Juwono Sudarsono and Marty Natalegawa.

"India, the world's largest democratic country, with a booming economy and high technology, is in need of an Indonesian ambassador more qualified than Andi Ghalib," he said.

Syarief said Indonesia should assign an ambassador to Kuala Lumpur who was able to improve Indonesia's image in the neighboring country.

"The envoy must have the diplomatic skills to handle the interests of some two million Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia," he said.