Councillors flee Kampar regency<\/p>\n
Haidir Anwar Tanjung, The Jakarta Post, Pekanbaru, Riau<\/p>\n
Dozens of university students in Kampar regency were seen on
\nFriday \"guarding\" Sultan Syarif Qasim II Airport in the Riau
\ncapital of Pekanbaru, in order to prevent Kampar councillors from
\nskipping out on the council's plenary meeting held on Saturday.<\/p>\n
The students took the action, because they heard rumors that
\ncouncillors in favor of Kampar regent Jefri Noer would leave town
\nto avoid a crucial plenary meeting, called to decide the fate of
\nJefri.<\/p>\n
\"We have been on alert at the airport for the last couple
\ndays. We heard that maybe 17 councillors would try to go to
\nJakarta to meet the Kampar regent and do a backroom deal to abort
\nthe meeting. If enough of them skip town, the meeting'll be
\naborted,\" said Denni Jaralata, the chairman of Pekanbaru's Kampar
\nStudent Association in Pekanbaru, 60 kilometers from Kampar.<\/p>\n
The plenary meeting must have at least two-thirds of the 45
\nKampar councillors present in order to have a quorum.<\/p>\n
Although the students kept a close eye on the airport, five
\ncouncillors had reportedly already departed for Jakarta from the
\nairport.<\/p>\n
\"We obtained the information from credible sources,\" Denni
\nclaimed.<\/p>\n
He alleged that the five absconders were Safril Harun,
\nFachruddin, Datuk Reno, Misrahayati and Munir Junu.<\/p>\n
The plenary meeting will be held in response to mounting
\nprotests by teachers and students in the regency who are
\ndemanding that Jefri immediately resign.<\/p>\n
The protests began two weeks ago, when the regent held a
\nmeeting with educators. Tension rose at the meeting, when a
\nprincipal from a local school, Abdul Latif Hasyim, had the
\naudacity to question the regent about the woefully low education
\nbudget. The regent, who has been accused by all of the regency's
\ncouncillors of being a high school dropout with a fake diploma,
\nbecame utterly incensed at such an irreverent suggestion by a
\nmere educator, and promptly expelled the very popular and
\nnationally acclaimed principal from the classroom-like meeting
\nhall.<\/p>\n
The incident sparked massive protests in the regency, as
\nnearly every teacher and student accused Jefri of insulting the
\nentire teaching profession. Five days later, on Tuesday last
\nweek, up to 40,000 teachers and students took to the streets en
\nmasse demanding him to step down.<\/p>\n
They also descended on the Kampar regency council to urge the
\ncouncillors to hold a plenary meeting to fire the regent.<\/p>\n
The council accommodated their demand, and quickly established
\na team of 13 councillors to investigate the problem.<\/p>\n
After three days of probing, the team recommended that the
\nregent be fired. But, the final say will eventually be delivered
\non Saturday, when the plenary meeting is held.<\/p>\n
The mounting opposition against the regent is also a result of
\nan accumulation of general repugnance for Jefri. Two years ago,
\nthe phony diploma debacle boiled over, but after the council
\nvoted that Jefri, nominated by the Reform faction (comprising the
\nNational Mandate Party and the Crescent Star Party), had to go,
\nhe was miraculously rescued by Minister of Home Affairs Hari
\nSabarno, who overruled the council.<\/p>\n
Also on Friday, the council speaker Syaifuddin Effendi said
\nthat he would publicly announce the names of any councillors who
\nskipped Saturday's plenary session.<\/p>\n
He also urged people not to vote for any of them if they
\nplanned to run in the upcoming legislative elections.<\/p>",
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