However, Gloria’s luck turned on Wednesday during celebrations for the country’s 71st Independence Day, two days after officials banned her from becoming an official member of the prestigious national flag-hoisting team (Paskibraka).

Although she had previously participated in Paskibraka training, Gloria was barred at the last minute when officials found out about her French passport.

Being the only person wearing a batik shirt and black skirt in a dining room filled with 67 other Paskibraka members in white uniforms did not dampen her happiness.

Gloria was seen smiling with friends over lunch after President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla decided to allow her to join the flag-lowering ceremony in the afternoon as a Paskibraka member.

Despite the country’s progress as a democracy, citizenship issues still trouble the children of mixed couples and the foreign spouses of Indonesians.

Gloria, an Indonesia-born and bred student from Depok, West Java, whose father is French, was earlier denied a place on the team for the ceremony at the palace when it was found that she did not hold Indonesian citizenship.

Public outcry pushed the government to reconsider the decision and make Gloria part of the team once again. The student also wrote a personal letter to Jokowi, declaring herself an Indonesian citizen.

More smiles were seen from Gloria during and after the flag-lowering ceremony, although she was only in the smaller group in the afternoon team.

“Many of my friends are better than me,” she said in a humble tone, in response to a question about whether she had dreamed of being in the main team earlier in the day.

The decision was due to her commitment and attitude, “in which we find no reason to doubt her love for the country”, said Youth and Sports Minister Imam Nahrawi, whose office oversaw Paskibraka selection.

Imam previously claimed to have only learned about Gloria’s nationality at the last minute, saying Gloria’s side also seemed not to know that having a foreign passport would disqualify her.

In another case illustrating the country’s rigidity on citizenship requirements, Family Welfare Movement (PKK) national chairwoman Erni Guntari Tjahjo Kumolo refused to swear in the Riau Islands governor’s wife, Noorliza Nurdin Basirun, as chair of the provincial PKK due to the latter’s Singaporean citizenship.

Riau Islands administration spokesperson Raja Heri Mokhrizal said that based on a regulation on the establishment of the PKK as stipulated in the latest law on regional autonomy, the PKK chair had to be an Indonesian citizen.

Nurdin Basirun was sworn in as Riau Islands governor by President Jokowi in May, replacing Muhammad Sani who died in April. Seven other governors were also inaugurated.

When their husbands took their oaths, their wives were supposed to be sworn in as the PKK chairs in their respective provinces.

“Nurdin was surprised when his wife could not be sworn in as PKK chairwoman,” Hery told The Jakarta Post, adding that he understood after being told about the reason.

Hery said Noorliza had previously been sworn in as PKK chair in Karimun regency from 2005-2010 and 2010-2015 when Nurdin served as Karimun regent, when there was not yet a regulation that the PKK chair had to be an Indonesian.

“Now that the regulation is there, the post for the Riau Islands provincial PPK chair is empty until now because we have yet to have a deputy governor,” Hery said.

He said he did not know whether Noorliza was still active as a Singaporean civil servant, arguing that it was a personal matter.

“We consulted with the provincial law and human rights office following the dismissal of [former energy and mineral resources] minister Arcandra Tahar and were told that as long as the governor was an Indonesian there was no regulation violated,” Hery said.

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