Susi said the businesswoman had demanded that Susi step down after she wrote an official letter in December last year requesting that the Bangka Belitung governor, regent and mayor evaluate offshore tin mining as it affected fishermen. The woman said the policy would be bad for business.

She previously revealed that she had rejected a Rp 5 trillion (US$383 million) offer to step down from her ministerial post.

'€œFor a few businesspeople, being a minister is not honorable. It is just another government position,'€ she tweeted in her verified account @susipudjiastuti on Thursday.

Susi has several times raised controversy through her policies, especially the extension of a moratorium on permit issuances for foreign fishing trawlers and the banning of unsustainable fishing instruments such as cantrang (trawl), which has been blamed for damage to coral reefs and the seabed ecosystem.

She also has been criticized for the recent sinking of foreign boats caught fishing illegally in Indonesian waters.

Susi, also a successful chartered aircraft businesswoman, stressed that she would not back down as she felt Indonesia was being viewed as a place to make trillions and she would not trade her freedom and her pride for money.

A public poll conducted by the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) in January revealed that 61 percent of the respondents considered Susi one of the best performing government ministers. (fsu)

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