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Thursday, May 04, 2017

  • 8:00 AM
TSCFWA -- The Presidential Palace responded to the criticism issued by a foreign economist regarding President Jokowi’s statement claiming that Indonesia has the third fastest economic growth in the world.

According to Chief of Presidential Staff Teten Masduki, Jokowi’s data was referred to other G20 countries and not the world's.

“President Jokowi wasn’t comparing it to the world, but among G20 countries instead. I don’t know whether there was a misquote by the foreign economist or not,” he said today, May 3.

Teten responded to an article issued by economist Jake van Der Kamp’s business column issued in the South China Morning Post (SCMP) who criticized President Jokowi’s data. Jake argues that Jokowi has been using the incorrect data because according to Jake, Indonesia's rank in the world’s economic growth is the 13th and not the third.

Teten considers that this is all a misunderstanding because President Jokowi used the G20 data when he was explaining about the subject. The presidential staff chief doubts that Jokowi misquoted the data since the data had been used by the president on numerous occasions.

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati also gave her opinion on this matter. “We’re not claiming to have the highest economic growth in the world. The president said that he was comparing it among other G20 countries,” she said.

Formerly, the Indonesian military has filed a police report (update: cancelled.. ed) over a story originating at The Intercept, which claimed protests against the governor of Jakarta were actually part of a plot to overthrow President Joko Widodo.

The police complaint was actually filed against an Indonesian news site called Tirto, which translated The Intercept article with the blessing of its original author, Allan Nairn. The Indonesian military described the story as a “hoax.”

The Intercept article found objectionable by the Indonesian military was titled, “Trump’s Indonesian Allies in Bed with ISIS-Backed Militia Seeking to Oust Elected President.” The article charges that associates of the U.S. president – including the vice speaker of the Indonesian House of Representatives and billionaire Hary Tanoe, who is building Trump resorts in Bali and Jakarta – worked with several active and retired Indonesian generals on a plot to overthrow President Joko Widodo.

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