Council won't judge Sutiyoso's performance<\/p>\n
Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Political analysts said that city councillors, who would
\naccept City Governor Sutiyoso's accountability speech, would base
\ntheir assessment solely on political considerations rather than
\nthe administration's performance.<\/p>\n
\"They will use only political factors and Sutiyoso's personal
\nstanding to evaluate his accountability,\" Mulyana W. Kusumah said
\nin a discussion organized by the Center for Jakarta Studies (PPJ)
\nlast Saturday.<\/p>\n
Mulyana, who is also a member of the General Elections
\nCommission, said the councillors did not see lax security and
\npublic order in the city as a reason either to accept or reject
\nhim.<\/p>\n
He claimed street crime, in which the perpetrators used armed
\nweapons, had increased during the administration of Sutiyoso.<\/p>\n
\"There were also conflicts between different ethnic groups in
\nthe city. Street rallies in the city were the most numerous in
\nthe city's history,\" said Mulyana, who is also a criminologist at
\nthe University of Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Former minister for regional autonomy Ryaas Rasyid agreed with
\nMulyana that both parties, those who favored and opposed
\nSutiyoso, would use political factors, instead of his
\nadministration's performance.<\/p>\n
\"They simply said Sutiyoso was the right choice without giving
\nsufficient reason,\" Ryaas, who is a professor at the state
\nInstitute of Administration Science, said.<\/p>\n
He criticized Sutiyoso's administration for its poor
\nmanagement of public transportation, water supply and education.<\/p>\n
Sutiyoso, who will end his tenure in October this year, has
\nbeen sharply criticized for his poor performance in handling
\nseveral problems in the city, including public transportation,
\nsecurity, public order and flooding.<\/p>\n
The governor, who delivered his accountability speech two
\nweeks ago, admitted that he had failed to handle the problems,
\nbut blamed poor public discipline as the cause of the problems.<\/p>\n
The United Development Party (PPP) faction chastised Sutiyoso
\nfor not apologizing to the public after failing to deal properly
\nwith the floods.<\/p>\n
\"Sutiyoso was not honorable as he failed to apologize to the
\npublic after the floods,\" PPP faction spokesman Yusuf A.R. said
\nas he read his party's general overview on the accountability
\nlast Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The City Council will hold a plenary session on Aug. 12 to
\ndetermine whether to reject or accept Sutiyoso's accountability.
\nIf it were rejected it would rule out his reelection chances.<\/p>\n
PPP, which has 12 seats on the council, was reportedly split.
\nHalf of its councillors supported Sutiyoso while the remainder
\nsupported City Secretary Fauzi Bowo as the next governor.<\/p>\n
Besides PPP, councillors of the largest faction, the
\nIndonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), which
\nhas 30 seats on the council, were also reportedly divided over
\nthe issue. Some 12 councillors, led by the party's city chapter
\nchairman and council deputy chairman Tarmidi Suhardjo, committed
\nthemselves to rejecting Sutiyoso's accountability.<\/p>\n
But all of those indicating rejection were predicted to be
\nstill less than a majority of the total 84 councillors.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/council-wont-judge-sutiyosos-performance-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}