Jokowi Yet to Decide on Arcandra's Reappointment as Energy Minister
Jakarta. President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has yet to decide whether former energy minister Arcandra Tahar will be reappointed in his post after the restoration of his Indonesian citizenship.
"Until yesterday, there has been no decision [regarding the reappointment of Arcandra]," presidential spokesperson Johan Budi said on Wednesday (14/09).
Johan admitted that Jokowi has received a written statement from the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights on the restoration of Arcandra's citizenship status. However, he said there has been no information on reappointing the former minister to his post.
"We have yet to receive information on that, but the president has received a report on the citizenship status of Mr. Arcandra," Johan said.
However, Johan avoided speculation on Arcandra's reappointment as energy minister, including the possibility of other names being considered to fill the position, currently being handled in an acting capacity by Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan.
"No, I do not know [of any other names]," the spokesman said.
Arcandra only served for 20 days as minister of energy and mineral resources after replacing Sudirman Said in President Jokowi's second cabinet reshuffle on July 27.
During a meeting with House of Representatives Commission III, which oversees legal affairs, Justice Minister Yasonna Laoly said Arcandra was still an Indonesian citizen based on "maximum protection and non-apatride stateless principles."
"After examinations and clarifications, Arcandra remains to be an Indonesian. He had lost his US citizenship based on the Certificate of Loss of Nationality of the United States on Aug. 12," Yasonna said.
Arcandra's loss of US citizenship has been legitimized by the US State Department, which was confirmed by a letter from the US Embassy on Aug. 31.
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