Council dismisses Cirebon mayor<\/p>\n
Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post, Cirebon, West Java<\/p>\n
The 30-member legislative council removed on Wednesday Cirebon
\nMayor Subardi and his deputy Agus Alwafier after only eight
\nmonths in office, accusing them of misusing their position.<\/p>\n
The decision was made during a one-and-a-half-hour plenary
\nsession, in which the council rejected the mayor's responses to
\nquestions posed to him by councillors about irregularities in his
\nadministration.<\/p>\n
\"It is evident that the mayor has lost his legitimacy,\" said
\nCirebon Legislative Council Speaker Suryana from the Indonesian
\nDemocratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan).<\/p>\n
He said the withdrawal of political support for Subardi means
\nthat he has been dismissed as mayor.<\/p>\n
Council deputy speaker Soenaryo, from the Golkar Party, said
\none of the mayor's most serious mistakes was that he often
\nmisused his power.<\/p>\n
Citing as an example, he said Subardi launched a reshuffle of
\nofficials at his administration without asking for advice from
\nthe council and the city's ranking and post supervisory board
\n(Baperjakat).<\/p>\n
Councillors also accused the mayor of corruption in connection
\nwith the approval of several development projects.<\/p>\n
His other blunder was when he held a secret meeting with the
\ncentral bank governor, which was tightly guarded by police and
\nNavy soldiers, Soenaryo added. What they discussed remains
\nunclear.<\/p>\n
\"At the time, there was not a single official at the Cirebon
\nadministration who knew about the meeting. Neither were the
\ndeputy mayor and the city secretary aware of it,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Another councillor Enang Iman Gana, from the United
\nDevelopment Party (PPP), said Subardi often neglected his duties,
\nas the mayor frequently disappeared from his office.<\/p>\n
\"Imagine, his adjutant did not even know of his whereabouts.
\nThis often happens. So, if the mayor does not go to office, it
\nmeans he doesn't work,\" Enang added.<\/p>\n
Subardi's dismissal won support from the three main factions
\nin the council -- PDI Perjuangan, Golkar and PPP. Backing also
\ncame from the Justice and Unity faction and the Crescent Star
\nParty (PBB) faction.<\/p>\n
Nineteen of the 30 council members voted to remove the mayor
\nand only 11 others opposed the decision.<\/p>\n
Subardi could not be reached for comment. His cellular phone
\nwas switched off and his staff refused to reveal his whereabouts.<\/p>\n
Soenaryo and Enang said the council had sent a letter to
\nPresident Megawati Soekarnoputri through Minister of Home Affairs
\nHari Sabarno to inform them about the leadership crisis in
\nCirebon.<\/p>\n
\"We leave the problem to the President to take a final
\ndecision. What is clear is that the mayor has lost legitimacy,\"
\nSoenaryo added.<\/p>\n
He asked the central government to seriously take into account
\nthe council's decision on the dismissal of Subardi. \"Otherwise,
\nwe will firmly challenge it.\"<\/p>\n
Subardi and Agus Alwafier were elected as mayor and deputy
\nmayor, respectively, by the council in January 2003, and were
\nsworn in by the West Java governor on April 16. They were
\nnominated by PDI Perjuangan and the National Mandate Party (PAN).<\/p>\n
Bitter feuds between regents and mayors and their local
\nlegislative councils have often taken place in Indonesia,
\nresulting in their removal.<\/p>\n
Experts have blamed confusion over existing laws on regional
\nadministrations for such dismissals.<\/p>\n
In July last year, the Surabaya Legislative Council decided to
\ndismiss Surabaya Mayor Bambang Dwi Hartono after he failed to
\npresent his revised budget accountability statement for the
\nfiscal year 2001. However, the central government rejected the
\ndecision.<\/p>\n
Earlier, the same council had also removed Bambang's
\npredecessor Soenarto as the Surabaya mayor.<\/p>",
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