PETALING JAYA: Two politically-­appointed ambassadors who were told to relinquish their positions and return home following a shake-up in the Foreign Ministry have declined to do so.

Both have expressed their unwillingness to return home and indicated that they would continue in their present capacity for a while more.

A Wisma Putra source said the two ambassadors conveyed their intentions to the chief of the administrative staff of their respective embassies who handed them the order letter from the ministry.

“The matter has been conveyed to Wisma Putra,” the source said, adding that one of them was looking for another foreign posting while the other asked for his tenure to be extended until the end of his term.

“However, the ministry insisted these two ambassadors, return immediately.”

The source said both refused to comply with the orders, using the excuse that the letter from the ministry was not signed by the minister but by a senior staff of Wisma Putra.

Their argument, said the source, was that they were appointed by the former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak based on the recommendations of the then foreign minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman.

“Therefore, they cannot accept the letter signed by a senior Wisma Putra officer.”

The source said if both refused to follow the order, the ministry was looking at taking action, including suspending their salaries and allowances.

Attempts to get the ministry to comment on this issue was not successful.

The Star reported last Saturday that several Malaysian envoys found themselves in the firing line after the new government decided to axe political appointees in the foreign service and government-­linked companies.

Among those in the foreign mi­­nistry’s list are Malaysian ambassador to Indo­nesia Datuk Seri Zahrain Mohamed Hashim, Malaysia’s first ambassador to the Vatican Tan Sri Bernard Dompok, ambassador to Finland Puan Sri Blanche O’Leary, Malaysian Friend­ship and Trade Centre in Taiwan president Datuk Adeline Leong and the High Commissioner to Brunei Datuk Ghulam Jelani Khanizaman.

The source said there were 15 designated ambassadors-in-waiting presently, all of who are career diplomats, to fill up the vacancies.

“These would-be ambassadors are experienced and qualified officers for the job. They are all ready for deployment,” the source said.

The source added that the ministry would be strict in appointing the heads of mission from now onwards.

“These posts would only be reserved for career diplomats and those who served the ministry. There will be no more political appointees to such positions,” said the source.