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Gita quits trade for presidency
Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan has officially resigned from his post to pursue the governmentâs top post, albeit in a political party whose popularity is waning
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Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan has officially resigned from his post to pursue the government's top post, albeit in a political party whose popularity is waning.
Gita said he had finally secured President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's approval to resign from the Cabinet on Wednesday after several failed attempts, to focus on the Democratic Party's presidential convention.
He said he had initially tendered his resignation before the convention began in August last year, but the President turned it down.
'This resignation is based on my ethical consideration regarding the possible conflict of interests if I'm involved in the convention's political process while, at the same time, still doing my job as the trade minister,' he told reporters on Friday.
'Let the people be the judge. Let them assess me ['¦] whether my policies during my tenure as trade minister really created jobs.'
He claims to have created 800,000 jobs following the issuance of a 2011 trade ministerial regulation banning the export of raw and semi-processed rattan, in an attempt to revive the ailing local rattan industry and to place higher value on the commodity at home.
Gita, who served as head of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) before being appointed trade minister, is the first minister to resign from the Cabinet to pursue his presidential ambitions, aiming for young and female voters among the 37 percent abstainers.
He will compete with 10 other hopefuls, including President Yudhoyono's brother-in-law, Pramono Edhie Wibowo, to become the Democratic Party's presidential candidate.
State-Owned Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan and former Indonesian ambassador to the US, Dino Patti Djalal ' both convention participants ' as well as Coordinating Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa ' himself also chairman of the National Mandate Party (PAN) ' have announced their presidential bids.
Dahlan and Hatta still hold their ministerial posts, while Dino announced his resignation in November last year.
Critics have said the majority of the convention participants were playing a losing game as Pramono, a retired Army general, would almost certainly win.
Political analyst Arie Sudjito from Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada University (UGM) said Gita's fate remained in the hands of the party, which was still awaiting indications of the legislative election results.
'The decision [regarding the pre-sidential nominee] remains with the party, which is still clueless and doesn't have the courage to make a significant move regarding [the nomination],' Arie said.
The President's special advisor for political communications, Daniel Sparringa, said Yudhoyono would make a formal statement about Gita's successor shortly.
Policies formed during Gita Wirjawan's tenure as trade minister:
1. WTO global trade reform deal:
After 18 years in existence, the World Trade Organization finally produced a global trade deal during the ninth WTO Ministerial Meeting, which was chaired by Gita in Bali in December last year. The meeting's result, however, attracted protests from local and foreign activists who said it only benefited developed nations and put developing and least-developed countries, as well as their farmers, at a disadvantage.
2. Trade bill:
The bill aims to regulate the domestic trade system, standardize goods and services and create remedies to cope with challenges pertaining to trade.
3. Ministerial Regulation No. 35/2011 on the banning of exports of raw and semi-processed rattan:
All raw and semi-processed rattan is expected to be absorbed by the domestic industry and rattan farmers should not suffer losses. Media reports, however, said rattan farmers promptly shifted their businesses due to a drop in rattan prices, leaving the downstream industry without the raw material.
4. Ministerial Regulation No. 32/2013 on terms and conditions of tin exports:
It requires registered tin ingot exporters to trade on the Indonesian Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (ICDX) before shipping, to gain greater control of tin prices. The move adversely affected exports because some exporters had not joined the ICDX.
5. Ministerial Regulation No. 70/2013 on traditional markets, shopping centers and modern retailers:
This regulation stipulates that locally produced products should account for at least 80 percent of a market, shopping center or modern retailer's total sale items.
6. Meat and live-cattle import policies:
The Trade Ministry had to import more beef and live cattle than the previously set quota last year to control soaring domestic prices amid local shortages.
Ina Parlina also contributed to the story.
