Indonesian President Dismisses Energy Minister Over US Citizenship

Indonesian President Joko Widodo has relieved Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Archandra Tahar from his duties over reports that he had a dual Indonesian-US citizenship, State Secretariat Minister Pratikno said.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Under Indonesian nationality law, Indonesians automatically lose their citizenship if they voluntarily accept foreign citizenship.

"Responding to public inquiries regarding the status of citizenship of the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Mr. Archandra Tahar, and after receiving information from various sources, the President decided to dismiss with honor Archandra Tahar," Pratikno said on Monday in a statement.

Archandra, who had previously lived in the United States for 20 years, held the position for 19 days.

Widodo appointed Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan as acting Energy and Mineral Resources Minister.