Great News For Indonesia -VP Kalla: Dual Citizenship May Have Merits for Indonesia - #Bali #News

Bali News and Views Eeditor's Comments:

Possible dual citizenship for Indonesians

"Every adversity has within it the seed of an equal greater benefit". According to Napoleon Hill.

The recent dismissal of an Indonesian Minister and denial of young lady to participate in the flag raising ceremony in Jakarta on Independance Day was a huge adversity that may have created an equal or greater benefit for the Minister, the young girl and more importantly, Indonesians.

There are several articles the last couple days , claiming that both the President, Jokowi, the Vice President Kala and even the powerful Golkar party are supportive of fast tracking a bill that is already on the agenda to allow for dual citizenship of Indonesians.

Many countries such as Australia already allow for dual citizenship.For example I have a friend who has a British passport and a Australian passport.

The benefits of dual citizenship for Indonesians and for foreigners are too numerous to count but the main ones that come to my mind are,

1. Indonesians who work permanently overseas will no longer have to obtain visas every time they go to countries such as England etc. They will be able to obtain passports in those countries avoiding the long, time consuming and expensive process of entry visas.
2. Upwards to 10,000 foreigners have lived in Indonesia for a long time such as I have. We will no longer have to get yearly working visas and will for the first time in history be able to buy land once we obtain dual citizenship with an Indonesian passport. This will increase the demand for land dramatically overnight. For the first time in history foreigners will be able to own properties providing they have dual citizenship. Most likely dual citizenship would be rewarded to those have lived and made a career in Indonesia, such as I have over the last 20 years, including developing a company that employs 160 Indonesians.
3. There is a huge problem in Indonesia when foreigners marry Indonesians. If an Indonesian marries a foreigner and then they divorce often the property is lost to the state. Another problem arises when foreigners have children with Indonesian spouses and the children are born in Indonesia. Often they have foreign passports which means in essence, although there born here, they are considered foreigners and must apply for visas.More importantly when they turn 18 they must choose between Indonesian passports or their spouses country passport. This is not fair to the children who should have both Indonesian passports and their foreign parents passport.

There are probably many more benefits from dual citizenship which I will look into over the next couple weeks, and report on. 

Let's just hope the government has intestinal fortitude to pass this very important legislation which will  benefit  Indonesians as well as foreigners living here. 

It's a win-win situation and may bring many of the Indonesians who left this country for greener pastures back to Indonesia, which I believe has the potential to be one of the strongest economies in the world.

Congratulations to President, Jokowi and Vice President Kala for supporting this very much-needed legislation.

Indonesia's Vice President Jusuf Kalla. REUTERS/Beawiharta

HOMENATIONAL

FRIDAY, 19 AUGUST, 2016 | 20:12 WIB

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TEMPO.CO, Jakarta -  Vice President Jusuf Kalla has finally spoken out about the controversy surrounding the issue of dual citizenship that ultimately caused the sacking of the Minister for Energy and Mineral Resources, Arcandra Tahar. According to Kalla, dual citizenship could be beneficial for Indonesia.

"There are so many Indian nationals who could legally work in the United States (US), in major companies such as Google and Microsoft, because their constitutions allow for dual citizenship," said the Vice President at the Vice President's Palace on Friday, August 19, 2016.

Kalla explained that the by allowing dual citizenship through our constitution, Indonesian nationals could legally work abroad without having to lose their status as Indonesian citizens. Conversely, Indonesia does not need to worry as Indonesians with dual citizenships could be recalled to Indonesia, to serve for the country when the need arises.

To illustrate his point, Kalla used the example of Indian and Singaporean nationals - who have the freedom to work in multinational companies where the companies are based, but are still recognised as de jure citizens, because their constitutions does not limit their nationals to one citizenship status.

"Here's the problem - if we choose to stick with our constitution [that does not allow for an Indonesian national to hold any other citizenship status abroad], we stand to risk losing our most talented individuals, as to them, becoming a citizen of another state other than Indonesia has its' own benefits that Indonesia may not be able to offer for the time being," said Kalla.

That said, Kalla also said that there has been no further talks between the Government and the House of Representatives regarding the issue of allowing dual citizenship status. However, Kalla continued to stress the benefit of dual citizenship status - as it will allow talented Indonesians to contribute to Indonesia, no matter where they are based and/or registered.

Previously, Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung said that the government has already begun to mull to revise Indonesia's existing Citizenship Law. That said, Pramono has yet to be able to provide any further details about when and what will be discussed in the meeting - and whether it will discuss the possibility of allowing Indonesians to hold a dual citizenship status.

Meanwhile, Coordinating Minister for Politics, Legal and Security Affairs, Wiranto, has also asked all stakeholders to considering the pros and cons of allowing dual citizenships for Indonesia - as there are fears that allowing dual citizenship will have an adverse effect on the discourse of nationalism among Indonesians.

ISTMAN MP

Ministers drop hints that Jokowi might push for dual citizenship in the future

By Coconuts Jakarta August 18, 2016 / 14:15 WIB

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President Joko Widodo speaks at a U.S. Chamber of Commerce Dinner in Washington D.C. on October 26, 2015. Photo: Reuters

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The issue of dual citizenship has been at the forefront in Indonesia this week following President Joko Widodo’s dismissal of Energy and Natural Resources (ESDM) Minister Arcandra Tahar after it came to light that Arcandra held a US passport and was thus no longer an Indonesian citizen.

A similar problem arose when the media found out that Gloria Natapradja Hamel, a 16-year-old member of the prestigious national flag-hoisting team (Paskibraka) also held a French passport. After the news broke, Gloria was forbidden from participating in the flag raising ceremony at the State Palace on Independence Day, but after public outcry, President Jokowi allowed her to take part in the flag lowering ceremony later in the day instead.

Arcandra’s dismissal just 19 days after his appointment as ESDM Minister was obviously a huge embarrassment for Jokowi’s administration, but his softened stance on Gloria shows that there might be room to maneuver and turn around the issue of dual citizenship.

Statements by two of Jokowi’s senior ministers would seem to indicate that his administration, rather than shying away from the it, are going to try to reframe it as a nationalist issue, with dual citizenship being a way to bring Indonesia’s best and brightest abroad back home.

Yesterday, Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan (who is also temporarily taking on the responsibilities of EDSM until a replacement for Arcandra can be appointed) talked to the media about the need to do more to attract Indonesians living overseas to return home to help the country’s development. He specifically referenced 24 Indonesians professors currently living in America who had expressed interest in coming back to their homeland.

"These are the kinds of people we need to accept with open arms. Do not argue over rules that we can still change. What we want is the best sons and daughters of Indonesia to work with future generations to make Indonesia better than my generation," he said, as quoted by Tribunnews.

The Minister of Home Affairs, Tjahjo Kumolo, made similar statements this morning in regards to the dismissal of Arcandra. He asked that people not see only the negative side of the scandal, but also look at the president’s intent in choosing Arcandra, which was to get the best Indonesian for the job, even if he had lived for many years outside of the country.

"Pak Jokowi wants to bring back smart people living abroad, to help rebuild Indonesia," Tjahjo said today as quoted by Vivanews. 

Tjahjo pointed to examples such as former president BJ Habibie and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani as examples of Indonesians who have lived abroad for many years but came back to help build their country.

Of course, these statements alone do not necessarily mean that Jokowi’s administration will be actively pursuing the legalization of dual citizenship. However, in the past the president himself promised members of the Indonesian diaspora that he would support a bill that would do just that.