Muhammad Najib

Muhammad Najib (born 9 August 1960) is an Indonesian politician, diplomat, and academician. He is serving as the ambassador to Spain since 2021. He co-founded the National Mandate Party (PAN) and serve on its Central Executive Board since its inception. He also held a tenure as a member of the House of Representatives from 2004 to 2014.

Early life and education Born in Singaraja, Bali, on 9 August 1960, Muhammad Najib is the second of nine siblings. His early education began at Madrasah Ibtidaiyah Islamiyah, followed by Muhammadiyah Junior High School, and he completed his high school education at Taman Pendidikan "45," all within his hometown. He later pursued higher education in Electrical Engineering, undertaking undergraduate studies at Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology. During his bachelor's studies, Najib joined the Muslim Students' Association. During his tenure as international relations head, he visited at least twenty nations and maintained close relations with foreign diplomats.

With the fall of Suharto in 1998, Najib followed Amien Rais footsteps and co-founded the National Mandate Party. He joined the party's central executive board and became one of its deputy secretary general. He was re-elected in 2009 with 26,253 votes.

During his first term in the house of representatives, Najib was a member of the Commission VII of the house of representatives, which focuses on energy, mineral resources, research, technology, and environment. He was the secretary of the PAN fraction from 2004 to 2007 and the deputy chairman from 2006 until 2009. During his time in the DPR RI, he was also active in several special committees and working groups, such as the sale of tankers belonging to Pertamina, draft bills on hajj pilgrimage organization, mineral and coal mining, and national defense reserve components, the government's proposal on fuel price hike, the Lapindo mudflow case, and the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution.

Upon serving as member of the House of Representatives, from 2015 to 2020, he served as the head of foreign affairs and diaspora at PAN's central executive board. In February 2021, Najib was nominated by President Joko Widodo as ambassador to Tunisia. After passing an assessment by the House of Representative's first commission in July 2021, he was officially installed as ambassador to Spain and the UN Tourism on 25 October 2021. He presented his credentials to King Felipe VI of Spain on 13 January 2022 and to the Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization Zurab Pololikashvili on 17 February 2022. In an interview, Najib stated that he aimed to boost exports of core products like palm oil and seafood, promote positive campaigns for palm oil, explore collaboration in renewable energy, manufacturing, creative economy, automotive, fashion, and textiles, and encourage Spanish companies to relocate industries to Indonesia to strengthen global value chains.