JAKARTA: Indonesia's president has asked Gita Wirjawan to stay on as trade minister until a replacement can be found, a senior government official said on Saturday.
Wirjawan, a US-educated former investment banker, told reporters on Friday that he had resigned, effective immediately, to focus on his campaign to win the presidential nomination for the ruling Democratic Party.
"Even though (Wirjawan) has resigned ... he has been asked to continue his duties as trade minister until a definitive replacement has been finalised by the president," State Secretary Sudi Silalahi told reporters.
An announcement on a replacement would be made in the "near future", he added. The general election is in April. Political parties must secure either 20 percent of the seats or 25 percent of the vote to nominate a candidate for the July presidential election.
The telegenic Wirjawan barely registers in recent opinion polls. He said he would target the huge young vote, women and the more than a third of the electorate which he said did not vote.
The most popular presidential hopeful is Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo. However, the main opposition party to which he is allied says it will not name its candidate until after the April parliamentary election.
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