Mission: Finding an all-around skilled ambassador

Suited to the job: ‘What is important is that the head of mission must be someone with calibre who is able to tackle bilateral ties between Malaysia and the new US administration,’ says Mohamad Hasan, addressing speculation about the important post of Malaysian ambassador to the US. — Filepic/The Star

IT is common knowledge that it is a reward and privilege for a non-career diplomat to be appointed as an ambassador representing his or her country. Over the years, Malaysia has seen former ministers in the role, like the late Tan Sri Mohamed Rahmat and Tan Sri Jamaluddin Jarjis who were posted to Jakarta and Washington DC respectively.

Mohamed was made an ambassador with ministerial rank while Jamaluddin, who was still a serving MP, was sent to Washington as a special envoy.

When Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad returned as prime minister under the Pakatan Harapan government in 2018, one of the first things he did was to recall several of the previous Barisan Nasional government’s politically appointed ambassadors. He felt that such jobs should be left to career diplomats.

Former Cabinet minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz was fortunate that his appointment to the US went ahead when Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim came into power with the unity government in 2022. Nazri’s earlier nomination to Bern under Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri’s administration was rejected by the host government. As explained by Wisma Putra, belatedly, he was still a serving MP hence the rejection.

Speculation has been intense in the last few weeks about candidates who could replace Nazri, who returned home from the US this week. Anwar added fuel to the speculation when he said that he had presented a name to Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia, who was in Bahrain when Anwar made an official visit to the kingdom earlier this week. An official announcement will still take time because the host government would still need to agree to the nominee proposed by the Malaysian government.

So should another political appointee be made an ambassador to the US?

Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said the post must be filled soon.

“Let’s put it this way. There are countries with posts that we need to fill quickly and there are places where we need to put in a political appointee who must understand bilateral ties are not as straight forward as the approach of a professional diplomat.

“We can’t say there is a blanket policy that there will be no political appointees and every post has to be filled by a professional diplomat.

“At the end of the day it is up to the individual we send there. What is important is that the head of mission must be someone with calibre who is able to tackle bilateral ties between Malaysia and the new US administration.

“We do not need unsolicited advice on who we should put there,” Mohamad told this writer, referring to several names that have been proposed as potential candidates by various quarters.

Washington DC is an important posting because the US is the one remaining superpower of the Cold War era and still a powerful country, especially in international politics and security. Finan-cially, the US dollar is still considered the international currency.

In essence, whatever the US decides to do, it will have a global impact that will especially affect the developing world.

We are not a US ally unlike some of our neighbours, and that is a fact. Anyone thinking we are going to be super close with the Donald Trump administration is thinking wishfully. Do we want to bend our ways to be Uncle Sam’s best buddy right now?

The US State Department continues to be displeased with Anwar’s continued criticisms about the war in Gaza and the treatment of Palestinians. Nazri was summoned several times to the State Department to explain Malaysia’s strong stance.

Kuala Lumpur has to tread carefully vis a vis Washington. One consideration is the flourishing bilateral trade. The latest report from the Investment, Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti) indicated exports to the US posted significant double-digit growth last month, fuelled by rising demand for electronic and electrical (E&E) products, notably semiconductor devices and integrated circuits.

“In January, trade with the US, which represented 11.8% of Malaysia’s total trade, expanded by 28.8% year-on-year [YOY] to RM28.47bil. Exports were up by 28.1% to RM17.25bil and was the 13th consecutive month of YOY expansion since January 2024.

“The growth was led mainly by rising demand for E&E products.

“Imports from the US climbed 29.9% to RM11.22bil. Compared with December 2024, trade, exports, and imports slipped by 8.1%, 8.9%, and 6.9% respectively,” according to Miti.

But will these good tidings remain? Because Trump recently announced he intends to impose auto tariffs “in the neighbourhood of 25%” and similar duties on semiconductors and pharmaceutical imports.

For two days in a row the Foreign Minister said in the Dewan Rakyat that Malaysia, as Chair of Asean this year, has proposed a special Asean-US summit either in Kuala Lumpur or the US.

It would set the tone for open discussion with the Americans, who are reportedly concerned that Malaysia is hedging to China especially as Malaysia will be hosting an Asean, Gulf Coopera-tion Council, and China summit in May.

It will be a feather in the cap of Anwar’s administration if Trump visits during our Asean chairmanship this year. Malaysia is wooing the Trump administration and doing a balancing act, just as our Asean neighbours are doing. Just watch the video of Indonesia’s Prabowo Subianto congratulating Trump after his election.

But Trump is unpredictable. He can and will criticise any country openly especially if he feels a trade imbalance is not in US favour.

“Overall it can be good for Asean if there is direct engagement with the Trump administration to ensure the grouping’s priorities are met in a more balanced manner. It also shows our side is not just hedging to China alone,” said an official.

The special Asean-US summit has been on the cards for some time but it could not be done due to time constraints and changes in government.

Over the years, Malaysia’s ambassador nominee to the US generally generated a lot of interest, probably because it involves political appointees.

Whoever gets the job must also have a personality suitable to operating in the US environment, and more importantly be able to anticipate policies that may have an impact on Malaysia’s economy.

“Sometimes politicians are more suitable. It depends on the prevailing situation – what our interests are, characteristics of the leaders, and internal dynamics in the host countries,” said a diplomat.

The new head of mission in Washington must also have good working relationships with those working under him or her. The person may eventually find out how limited the resources, financially and staff-wise, are to even plan decent programmes to promote Malaysia.

That’s the reality and a topic for another day.