REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Michael Buehler, a professor of Southeast Asia Political Science at School of Oriental and African Studies in London, made a commotion in Indonesia after writing an article published at New Mandala in http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au, Friday (6/11).

The article titled "Waiting In The White House Lobby" revealed the existence of a broker, namely Singapore consulting firm who must pay for 80 thousand US dollars or Rp 1.08 billion to a company in Las Vegas. The purpose was to make Indonesian government have opportunity and access to the White House.

The Singapore consulting firm was Pereira International Pte LTD and the Las Vegas PR company was R & R Partner's Inc. International Pereira, said Buehler, was close to Indonesian Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal and Human Rights, Luhut Panjaitan.

In the document revealed by Buehler, there was cooperation agreement with a contract value of 80 thousand US dollars. The agreement was signed by Sean Tonner as President of R & R Partners and Derwin Pereira as representative of Pereira International.

Official website of Pereira in http://www.pereiraintl.com/ was displayed various heads of state. In addition to President Jokowi, there was also President Barack Obama, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

On the home page of the website, there was also Vice President Jusuf Kalla and Indonesian Former President Megawati Soekarnoputri. There was also a photograph of five leaders of House of Representatives and even a photo of Luhut Panjaitan.

Moreover, Luhut Pandjaitan then revealed his friendship with a consultant in Singapore. This was said while visiting Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on Monday (9/11).

"I'm not familiar (with Pereira), just friends, all is friends," he said.

He said, Pereira was not a broker. However, he continued that in the United States, lobbyist company was a common thing.

Previously, Buehler wrote, R & R Partners did not have a track record in understanding Indonesian political dynamics. That was because its leaders did not have experience of staying in Indonesia.

Different things was happened with Derwin Pereira. He was considered to understand Indonesian political condition. After earning a bachelor degree at London School of Economics in the early 1990s, he worked as a journalist for a newspaper of Singapore, The Straits Times. He served in Indonesia, and when the fall of President Suharto in 1998, he became head of the Bureau.

After that, Pereira was placed in Washington, until then he retreated to set up his own consulting firm. Pereira, Buehler explained, prided himself on his "ability to establish contacts at the highest place" and "deep access to the political and business elite in Jakarta and exclusive access to get important information."

In the document that revealed by the US Justice Department, there was no one in Indonesian government that employed Pereira and R & R Partners. However, Pereira once wrote and interviewed Luhut Panjaitan to The Straits Times during becoming Indonesian Ambassador to Singapore from 1999 to 2000.

Ikuti Whatsapp Channel Republika