TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsPalace denies negligence in Arcandra's appointment
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Newly inaugurated ministers, including then energy and mineral resources minister Arcandra Tahar (right), pose for photographers after the announcement of the new Cabinet line-up at the State Palace in Jakarta on July 27. President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo dismissed Arcandra from his post on Monday night. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)
T
he State Palace has rejected allegations that the decision to dismiss Arcandra Tahar from his post as energy and mineral resources minister was a result of negligence in the selection process.
Presidential spokesman Johan Budi reiterated State Secretary Pratikno’s statement that Arcandra’s dismissal was a response to controversy regarding the minister’s alleged dual citizenship.
“Don’t look at it that way [administrative negligence]. But see it as the President being responsive to issues that arise [....] the President also obtained information and data from various parties, and the result was the President decided to dismiss him with honor,” Johan said at the State Palace on Monday night after a brief announcement by Pratikno.
The President has appointed Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan as acting energy and mineral resources minister until a new minister is appointed.
State law expert from Gadjah Mada University, Denny Indrayana, told The Jakarta Post that many state institutions were responsible for doing background checks on candidates for ministerial posts. “They include the State Secretariat, the State Intelligence Agency, the police, the immigration office, the Law and Human Rights Ministry,” he said.
Denny, who served as a member of the presidential staff during Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s administration, said the confidential manner of ministerial appointments posed a challenge for the presidential office in carrying out fast and thorough background checks. (evi)
