Not Attending Twice Invitations, Minister Of Trade Lutfi: I Have No Intention To Leave, But There Is An Agenda To Go Out Of The City And Have A Meeting With Jokowi

Minister of Trade Muhammad Lutfi. (Photo: Doc. VOI)

JAKARTA - Trade Minister Muhammad Lutfi was not present at the two joint cross-commission meetings held by the House of Representatives (DPR). Lutfi's absence made the DPR inflamed and threatened to summon Lutfi forcibly.

Lutfi explained that he did not intend to be absent from the meeting invitation given by the DPR. However, said Lutfi, the first invitation was given close to his work visit outside the city to check the availability of cooking oil.

"I said it's not that I don't want to attend two invitations. Because the first one is because the invitation is very urgent, it's very close to what I have to do to check out of town for the availability of cooking oil", he said when met at Pasar Senen, Central Jakarta, Thursday, March 17.

Meanwhile, said Lutfi, he was not present at the invitation to the joint cross-commission meeting held on Tuesday, March 15 because he had to attend a limited meeting (Ratas) with President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and other relevant ministers.

"Secondly, I attended a meeting which was followed by coordination meetings to ensure that cooking oil was available in the community", he said.

Lutfi confirmed that he would attend the invitation to a work meeting with Commission VI today. It is planned that the meeting will be held at 13.30 WIB, at the DPR Building, Parliament Complex, Senayan.

"I will attend the Commission VI meeting at 13.30 which will ask about this cooking oil problem. So I am not avoiding it. I will come with all my heart and I will say what is happening in the market openly", he said.

Previously, the Chairman of Commission IV of the House of Representatives Sub-Department questioned the results of Lutfi's inspections on markets throughout Indonesia for one month. According to him, there are no significant results to overcome the current cooking oil problem.

"One month ago, at the same place we invited the Minister of Trade, suddenly there was a visit to Makassar. For one month the trade minister toured the markets throughout Indonesia. What have been the results so far? , prices remain high. For one month, you know", he said in a joint meeting, at the House of Representatives Building, Parliament Complex, Senayan on Tuesday, March 15.

"So what do you do? Even coming today doesn't solve the problem, I'm sure of it", he continued.

This PDI-P politician also highlighted the many policies related to cooking oil issued by Lutfi. In fact, according to the Sub-Department, there is no synchronization between policies issued.

"Let's look at the mass media, every two months the Minister of Trade issues 9 ministerial regulations. They are different from each other, I summarize this", he said.

In fact, the Sub-Department also doubts the proposal to give Trade Minister Muhammad Lutfi three days to complete the trade balance.

"There is a suggestion to give 2-3 more days to compile the balance sheet, I'm not sure it can solve the problem. If you have good intentions, all policies are in the minister's hands, I'm sure you can. If you have good intentions", he explained.