ANALYSIS: Govt wants to keep energy minister in office
Monday, August 15 2016 - 12:55 AM WIB
Following the shocking allegation that Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Arcandra Tahar is a US citizen, which according to law experts makes his appointment as minister illegal, the government is now struggling to defend him, which indicates the government is going to keep the young minister in office despite the citizenship problem.
Rumors circulating on Saturday hold that Arcandra acquired the US citizenship back in 2012, but he still keeps his Indonesian passport. The rumor has been thus far neither confirmed nor denied. When asked by reporters on Sunday whether it is true that he is a US citizen, President Jokowi asked Minister of State Secretary Pratikno to answer the question.
?Pak Arcandra is an Indonesian passport holder. He came to Indonesia using the Indonesian passport, which is still valid until 2017,? Pratikno said, while adding that the President asked him to come back to Indonesia to become minister due to his international reputation as an ocean engineering expert and as a respectable manager of his business in the US. Furthermore, Arcandra now wants to dedicate himself to Indonesia, he said.
A similar statement was made by Arcandra on Sunday. Rather than answering whether he is a US citizen, he said, ?I am a Padangnese so is my wife. I was raised in Padang (the capital of West Sumatra province) but studied in the US for master and doctoral degrees. Until now, I am still holding my Indonesian passport and the passport is still valid.?
In the US legal system, according to reports, a person who acquires citizenship through naturalization is allowed to keep the passport issued by his or her original country. The US government does not revoke the passports, because they are considered to be the property of other governments. In case the person goes out of the US using his or her original passport, he or she will be treated a citizen of his or her original country, which makes the person unable to access the service of the US embassies. In case, he or she leaves the US using the American passport, the person is considered an American citizen, thus entitled to receive service from American embassies wherever the person goes.
Law No. 12/2006 on Citizenship of the Republic of Indonesia bars Indonesians from having dual citizenship. Chapter 23 of the law reads: ?An Indonesian citizen will lose his or her citizenship if he or she acquires foreign citizenship voluntarily?. Meanwhile, Law No. 39/2008 on Ministries states one of the requirements to be a minister is that the person must be an Indonesian citizen.
Arcandra had apparently not been vetted prior to his appointment as minister. Sources said on Saturday the palace blamed spy agency BIN for failing to do the job of vetting Arcandra. BIN?s Head Sutijoso noted on Sunday, however, his office had never been asked to carry out the vetting.
Gerindra, the largest opposition party, said if Arcandra proved to be a US citizen, it means the Jokowi administration has not carried out a ?fit and proper? test before appointing his ministers. Arcandra has been appointed ?at the request of the US?, Gerindra?s vice chairman Arief Poyuono said.
The PDI Perjuangan (PDIP) party, the largest supporter of the government, also expressed concerns. ?There are always parties who collaborate with foreign interest to control Indonesian (natural) wealth by all means? PDIP has also observed there are certain parties who have put the President in a difficult position that he did not carried a vetting process on the ministerial candidates during the Part Two reshuffle,? PDIP?s Secretary General Hasto Kristiyanto said.
He said the government should clarify Arcandra?s citizenship and, after that, take action in line with Law No. 12/2006 and Law No. 39/2008.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak