Govt. Officially Reinstates Archandra Tahar?s Indonesian Citizenship

Indonesian Version

 
Marcell Sihombing, Rofiq Hidayat
 

Less than a month after his United States (US) citizenship was exposed to the public, former Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM Minister), Archandra Tahar, has officially had his Indonesian citizenship reinstated via a ministerial decree which was issued by the Ministry of Law and Human Rights earlier this month. According to Yasonna H. Laoly, the current Minister of Law and Human Rights, this citizenship reinstatement was granted after a thorough review on the matter had been undertaken by the Ministry.

 
Minister Laoly stated that Mr. Tahar had initially lost his Indonesian citizenship status back in 2012, when he secured US citizenship. However, Mr. Tahar has now officially renounced his US citizenship and filed a Certificate of Loss of Nationality of the United States with the US Embassy on 12 August 2016. This renouncement was subsequently approved by the US Department of State and declared in an official US Embassy Letter dated 31 August 2016.
 
Furthermore, Minister Laoly stated clearly for the record that government officials were prohibited from denying the right of any person to gain citizenship status, or any such official may be sentenced to a maximum of one year’s imprisonment. In addition, Government Regulation No. 2 of 2007 on Procedures for the Obtaining, Forfeiture, Cancelation and Regaining of Indonesian Citizenship Status (2007 Regulation) strictly prohibits any individuals from becoming stateless persons.
 
“Ultimately, I decided to officially reinstate Mr. Tahar’s Indonesian citizenship status on 1 September 2016 in order to prevent him from becoming a stateless person,” Minister Laoly concluded.
 
Opposition from House Members

However, Minister Laoly’s move was met with opposition from several members of the House of Representatives (House), who consider the government’s maneuvering, as regards the reinstatement of Mr. Tahar’s Indonesian citizenship, to be discriminatory. Lawmaker Akbar Faisal, a member of Commission III at the House, for example, bemoaned the appointment of Mr. Tahar as ESDM Minister in the first place. Indeed, there was uproar among the general public when Mr. Tahar’s dual citizenship was discovered soon after his appointment, and President Joko Widodo was accused of being negligent for not thoroughly screening Mr. Tahar during the period of his candidacy. Mr. Faisal then revealed that none of the cabinet-reshuffling team had consulted with the National Intelligence Agency (Badan Intelijen Negara - BIN) before appointing Mr. Tahar as ESDM Minister.
 
Mr. Faisal also claimed that Minister Laoly had violated Law No. 12 of 2006 on Citizenship (Citizenship Law) by reinstating Mr. Tahar’s Indonesian citizenship. Indeed, Mr. Faisal has even proposed that the House should file an official protest with the government, demanding that it annuls the reinstatement.
 
Elaborating upon Mr. Faisal’s statement, Lawmaker Dwi Ria Latifa, another member of Commission III, explained that the reinstatement violated Article 9 (b) of the Citizenship Law. This article stipulates that any person who intends to apply for Indonesian citizenship must have been living in Indonesia for at least five consecutive years, or 10 non-consecutive years. With this in mind, Mr. Tahar should first be required to live in Indonesia for at least five consecutive years before he can secure Indonesian citizenship status.
 
“In my opinion, a reinstatement should not be this easy, as there are many other applicants who must wait for a full five years before they can secure Indonesian citizenship status,” Mrs. Latifa asserted.
 
Mrs. Latifa further asserted that President Widodo’s insistence upon reinstating Mr. Tahar owing to his capabilities did not have a solid rationale behind it. After all, Mrs. Latifa asserted, there are many intelligent and capable Indonesian citizens like Mr. Tahar who are domiciled both inside and outside of the country's borders. Thus she believes this particular government maneuver to be both discriminatory and unfair.
 
In a bid to learn from Mr. Tahar’s case, Mrs. Latifa pledged to keep criticizing any government conduct that she believed to be improper and assured the public that her actions represented her sincere concern for the good of the country. With this end in mind, Mrs. Latifa suggested that President Widodo should be careful who he takes advice from.

(cd/sp)