Government forms team on Sunarto dismissal<\/p>\n
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The central government's stance on the recent removal from office
\nof Surabaya Mayor Sunarto Sumaprawiro has softened, and it has
\ndecided to set up an independent team to study the case.<\/p>\n
Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno said on Monday that he
\nhad ordered the East Java governor to recruit political, legal
\nand constitutional experts to serve on the team. He further said
\nthat the government's response to the mayor's removal would be
\nbased on the team's recommendations.<\/p>\n
"Let the independent team work without interference to study
\nwhether the Surabaya legislative council's decision to impeach
\nthe mayor was valid or not," he said during a break from a
\ncoordinating meeting with governors and regents here on Monday.<\/p>\n
He added that the government would not be represented on the
\nteam so as to let it carry out its review objectively.<\/p>\n
Asked about the deadline for the completion of the team's
\nreview, the minister said the government would not set any
\ndeadline so as to allow the team to work freely and
\nindependently.<\/p>\n
Bambang D.H., the Surabaya deputy mayor, has been in charge of
\nthe municipal administration since shortly after the city council
\nimpeached Sunarto on Jan. 16, 2001, and appointed him as the new
\nmayor.<\/p>\n
Hari originally rejected the city council's decision, which he
\nconsidered as being contrary to the law, saying the council had
\nno authority to dismiss the lawfully appointed mayor.<\/p>\n
Based on Government Regulation No. 108\/2000, the minister said
\nthat the councillors should have proposed to the central
\ngovernment the names they considered suitable for replacing
\nSunarto if the latter had been found incapable of carrying out
\nhis day-to-day duties.<\/p>\n
The council ignored the minister's advice, saying that its
\ndecision on Sunarto was final.<\/p>\n
Imam Utomo also handed over the legislature's report on
\nSunarto's dismissal to the minister as required by law.<\/p>\n
Ryaas Rasyid, the former state minister of autonomy affairs
\nand designer of the regional autonomy law enacted in 1999, as
\nwell as many other experts, were unanimous in agreeing that the
\ncity legislature had the authority to remove the mayor if the
\nlatter had been found guilty of violating his oath of office or
\nbeing incapable, either physically or mentally, of performing his
\nday-to-day duties.<\/p>\n
The city legislature sacked Sunarto, who was absent from
\noffice at a time when the city faced numerous major problems,
\nincluding a build-up of garbage in the East Java provincial
\ncapital between October 2001 and Jan. 16, 2002.<\/p>\n
Sunarto was absent from office for more than four months while
\nreceiving intensive medical treatment at a hospital in Melbourne,
\nAustralia. He has now gone back to Melbourne for further medical
\ncare after returning to Surabaya two days before the legislative
\ncouncil removed him from office.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/government-forms-team-on-sunarto-dismissal-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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