Jokowi Defends Decision To Sell Indosat

Pontianak, West Kalimantan, June 24 (Antara) - Presidential candidate Joko Widodo has accused his rival candidate, Prabowo Subianto, of not being responsive to the people`s sufferings during the economic crisis in 1998. He made the statement in defense of the decision taken by former president Megawati Soekarnoputri to sell PT Indonesian Satellite Corporation Tbk. (Indosat) during a campaign tour here on Monday evening. Joko Widodo remarked that Indonesia was hit by an economic crisis in 1998, which had weakened its economy. As the head of state at the time, Megawati finally decided to sell the company to Singapore Technologies Telemedia. "We, at home, felt the pain and how the economic crisis had affected us. Prabowo will not feel it as he was not at home at the time. I do not know where he was," he stressed. Prabowo raised the issue during a nationally televised presidential debate on Sunday. Jokowi noted that the decision to sell PT Indosat was also approved by the House of Representatives (DPR) and the People`s Consultative Assembly (MPR). "The impact of the economic crisis lasted for nearly six to seven years. When we are facing a crisis, we must indeed make a choice, and a leader must decide which decision is good for the nation and which one is not. At the time, the decision was to sell Indosat. The decision was made because the country indeed needed money for running the government," Joko Widodo claimed. "The decision was also approved by the DPR and MPR. The question now is whether the company can be bought back. It can. It is explained in a clause," he added. "That is why I said if we can grow above seven percent then buying back Indosat will not be a difficult task. If it is considered a loss, its management must be improved," Widodo noted.