He said the appointment of the candidate had been finalised and the process was now in its final stages, Bernama reported.

“A ceremony to announce the appointment will be done in Malaysia,” he said at a press conference ahead of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s visit to Indonesia beginning tomorrow.

Zambry did not say if it would be a political appointment or otherwise.

The position has been vacant since the previous ambassador, career diplomat Zainal Abidin Bakar, retired in April 2021.

A controversy arose in June last year when Umno divisional strongman Tajuddin Abdul Rahman, then MP for Pasir Salak, said he had been nominated to fill the position. However, a month later, Tajuddin’s name was absent from a list of ambassadors who were scheduled to receive their diplomatic credentials from the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

When contacted by FMT, a government source familiar with the matter confirmed that Putrajaya had a change of heart over Tajuddin’s appointment.

Tajuddin’s prospective appointment had invited criticism from MPs, former diplomats, politicians and members of civil society, and more than 35,000 signatures were gathered for a petition calling for his appointment to be scrapped.

Last year, Indonesia’s ambassador to Malaysia, Hermono, was reported as saying he had heard that the new ambassador would be a career diplomat.