Jakarta: The State Palace has moved to counter accusations that Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Arcandra Tahar holds US citizenship, which would make him ineligible to serve in a Cabinet position, and maintained that he continued to hold an Indonesian passport while living abroad.
Responding to media reports about Arcandra, who resided in the US for 20 years before returning to Indonesia in July to be sworn in as a member of the Cabinet, State Secretary Pratikno insisted the minister held an Indonesian passport “valid until 2017”.