Bali legislators to resign following protests<\/p>\n
DENPASAR (JP): After a week-long protest, Speaker (ret.) Brig.
\nGen. I Ketut Sundria, announced yesterday on behalf of the 46
\nstrong provincial legislature that all members would resign from
\ntheir posts.<\/p>\n
Before a crowd of 20,000 demonstrators at the legislature
\nbuilding, an obviously shaken Sundria read out a statement which
\nsaid the legislator's would resign, \"provided that it was done
\nthrough a constitutional means\".<\/p>\n
However the demonstrators, a mixture of local university
\nstudents, religious leaders and the general public, were
\ndissatisfied with the grandiloquent nature of his speech and
\nasked what his words meant \"in plain language\".<\/p>\n
Sundria acquiesced and gave a plain assurance that he and his
\nfellow legislators would resign after the necessary
\nadministrative procedures had been completed.<\/p>\n
\"All members of the legislature, myself included, have no
\nintention of holding on to our posts,\" he asserted.<\/p>\n
Sundria claimed that he and all members of the outgoing
\nlegislature supported the calls for total reform, which includes
\na review of all provincial regulations deemed to be in opposition
\nto public aspirations and the 1945 Constitution.<\/p>\n
Protesters thronged to the legislature building compound early
\nin the morning.<\/p>\n
The crowd included Tabanan regency residents who claimed to
\nhave been wronged during Sundria's tenure as regent there.<\/p>\n
Spearheaded by university students, the demonstrations began a
\nweek ago with a call for Bali governor Ida Bagus Oka to resign
\nfrom his new position as State Minister of Population.<\/p>\n
Oka was condemned for alleged corruption during his tenure as
\ngovernor.<\/p>\n
The protesters initially demanded that the legislators sign a
\nstatement which said they refused to recognize B.J. Habibie as
\nPresident and demanding an extraordinary session of the People's
\nConsultative Assembly be held.<\/p>\n
However Sundria, with the apparent support of all factions in
\nthe legislature, refused.<\/p>\n
The protesters then demanded the entire legislature resign for
\nfailing to acknowledge and represent the aspirations of the
\npeople.<\/p>\n
Separately, Udayana University professor of law I Dewa Atmaja
\nurged that \"a transitional legislature\" be set up as soon as
\npossible to fill the vacuum left by the mass resignation.<\/p>\n
In Jakarta, protests calling for the resignation of Ida Bagus
\nOka from his ministerial post continued.<\/p>\n
Twenty protesters calling themselves the Bali Exponents for
\nReform staged a brief protest outside the main gate of the House
\nof Representatives.<\/p>\n
They were barred from entering the compound by security
\nofficers.<\/p>\n
The protest featured traditional Balinese singing and dancing.<\/p>\n
The demonstrators said Oka must step down for alleged abuses
\nof power during his tenure as governor, \"in the name of justice.\"<\/p>\n
They presented a list of Oka's alleged \"sins\" during the
\nSoeharto era. They include seizing sacred land on the island to
\nhelp politically well-connected business people develop tourist
\nresorts, such as Bali Nirwana Resort, Bali Pecatu Graha, Pulau
\nSerangan, and Pantai Padanggalak. (28\/aan)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/bali-legislators-to-resign-following-protests-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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