Umno loyalists would make better candidates as the ambassador to Indonesia than Zahrain Mohamed Hashim who defected to Umno from PKR, said former Perak Menteri Besar Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin.

He cited examples such as Umno supreme council Saifuddin Abdullah and former Wanita Umno deputy chief Kamalia Ibrahim as possible candidates.

"At least they have principles," he said in a Twitter posting yesterday.

Zahrain was a former PKR stalwart who suddenly quit the party in 2010 while he was the Bayan Baru MP and declared himself a BN-friendly independent.

Nizar added that Zahrain's appointment was merely a reward for defecting.

"Perhaps that was the reward for defecting and it is unfortunate that Malaysia will have such an ambassador."

He also queried whether other former PKR members such as Zulkifli Nordin and former N Gobalakrishnan, who both won seats as PKR candidates during the 12th general election, would similarly rewarded by the BN government.

According to foreign minister Anifah Aman, Zahrain was the best man for the job and an ambassador's political history was not important.