Tug of war in Jokowi's inner circle

JAKARTA. The abrupt sacking of Arcandra Tahar from his post as Energy and Mineral Resources Minister shows the tug of war between two influential camps in President Joko Widodo's inner circle.

Arcandra was dismissed on Monday, following revelations that he had become a naturalised United States citizen four years ago. He had resided in the US for 20 years before returning to Indonesia last month to take up his post.

One of the rival camps is led by State-owned Enterprises Minister Rini Soemarno, while the other is led by Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut Pandjaitan.

Rini gets full support from retired army general A.M. Hendropriyono, who was a key adviser in Joko's presidential campaign. Holding the strategic ministry post that oversees 119 state-owned companies with billions of dollars of total assets, Ms Rini is believed to be able to greatly influence politicians in Parliament, including senior ones.

Arcandra's entry into the Cabinet last month was the result of lobbying efforts from the Rini-Hendropriyono duo.

Arcandra said he gave up his US citizenship before accepting the ministerial post. Indonesia, however, does not allow dual citizenship. Any Indonesian pledging allegiance to a foreign country automatically loses his Indonesian citizenship.

Denny Indrayana, a state law expert, told The Jakarta Post that Arcandra would have to undergo a process to regain Indonesian citizenship and that it would not be easy.

Joko has appointed Luhut, who is seen as the most effective minister in the Cabinet after helping to increase support for the president in Parliament, to temporarily fill Arcandra's post.