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Jokowi aides defend nickel policy against Anies team's claims
Two ministers have leapt to the defense of the Jokowi administration's nickel policy with public jabs at the Anies campaign's cocaptain, following Sunday's heated vice presidential debate.
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Coordinating Maritime and Investment Minister Luhut Pandjaitan arrives on June 8, 2023 at the East Jakarta District Court to attend a hearing in a defamation suit, which he brought against Haris Azhar and Fatia Maulidiyanti after the rights activists alleged in a podcast that Luhut had backed problematic mining businesses in Papua.
(Antara/Fauzan)
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ollowing the second and final vice presidential debate on Sunday, two ministers in President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s cabinet made a concerted effort to counter a claim made by Anies Baswedan’s campaign team that cast doubt on the government’s nickel downstream development policy.
Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, one of Jokowi’s closest aides, posted a video statement to his Instagram account on Wednesday that pointed out flaws in statements made by Thomas Lembong, cocaptain of the Anies campaign.
Meanwhile, Investment Minister Bahlil Lahadalia spent a good chunk of time to discredit Thomas at a press briefing on Wednesday, which was supposed to present last year’s investment realization.
Thomas stated earlier this month that the Tesla cars manufactured in China did not use batteries containing nickel.
The former investment banker, who served as trade minister during Jokowi’s first term, has repeatedly made public statements about the rise of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries in the global electric vehicle (EV) industry, which could undermine Indonesia’s efforts to develop its nickel downstream sector to build its very own battery industry.
He also linked the government’s downstream policy with flooding the global nickel market to result in falling prices, which experts have refuted by attributing this primarily to weaker global demand.
Read also: Who is post-debate social media star Thomas Lembong?
