Jokowi-Obama and gossip of broker

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, By; Fira Nursyabani

The second document, dated 19-6-15, stated Jill Warren would serve Pereira International PTE Ltd on behalf of the Government of Indonesia. The services provided were similar with Darrin Munoz. The third document, dated 19-6-15, stated Sean Tonner would serve Pereira International PTE Ltd on behalf of the Government of Indonesia.The services provided were similar with Darrin Munoz and Jill Warren. Then, the fourth document, dated 30-7-2015, stated R & R Partners provided their services to serve the Government of Sri Lanka and the Government of Sudan. Then, it showed that Indonesia was not the only user of R & R Partners.

Responded to this case, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Retno Marsudi, confirmed that all preparations for President Joko Widodo's visit to the United States (US) were through formal and official lane. "I just want to emphasize once again, all preparations for the visit of President Jokowi to the US was made formally and officially. Ministry of Foreign Affairs coordinated the visit with the related ministry and institutions in the US," said Retno in a press conference in Jakarta, Saturday (7/11) afternoon.

The statement was delivered to deny the news that spread about President Jokowi's visit to the US through services of foreign lobbyists. Retno further explained that the early talks of President Jokowi's visit to the US occurred during the APEC summit in Beijing, at the end of 2014.

On the sidelines of the APEC meeting, President Jokowi and President Obama held a bilateral meeting, President Obama invited President Jokowi to visit his country. Following up on the APEC meeting, in March 2015, Assistant of President Obama, Dr. Evan Mediros, conducted a visit to Indonesia to convey the official invitation of President Obama to President Jokowi. Furthermore, President Jokowi replied via letter and stated that Indonesian government welcomed the invitation and would soon organize the visit. President Jokowi also said that he was happy because Indonesian authorities and the US had agreed to determine the date of the visit on 26 October 26 2015. "I chaired the meeting of preparatory visits for three times at the ministerial level on 17th September, 7th October, and 17th October," said Retno.

She also said that the visit of President Jokowi to the US produced some cooperation, such as the signing of a memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation in maritime, energy, defense, and an alternative aviation fuel, and also 19 business deals worth more than 20 billion US dollars.

However, Buehler lamented Retno's statement that denied the existence of a broker in the meeting between Jokowi and Obama at the White House. Therefore, he had revealed it in his article and even uploaded official documents of the contract with R & R Partner. "Ministry of Foreign Affairs held a press conference related to the articles I wrote. If the Ministry does not know who signed the consultant contract with the lobbyist, then who are they?" he wrote in a status, Saturday (7/11).