JP\/5\/GOVERNOR<\/p>\n
West Sumatra Governor fails in reelection bid<\/p>\n
Syofiardi Bachyul Jb
\nThe Jakarta Post\/Padang<\/p>\n
Zainal Bakar, a corruption suspect and former West Sumatra
\nGovernor, has failed in his bid to seek reelection this year.<\/p>\n
None of the political parties in the province were willing to
\nnominate him to run for governor in the upcoming direct
\ngubernatorial election.<\/p>\n
It is an obvious political setback for Zaenal, who had
\nstruggled mightily in order to be nominated to run for governor
\nagain.<\/p>\n
Zainal had hoped to be nominated by the Golkar Party, hoping
\nto sway Golkar members by his choice of Golkar legislator Datuk
\nLabuan as his running mate. But Zainul and Datuk lost in the
\nparty's internal selection process.<\/p>\n
Golkar ended up nominating Leonardi Harmainy and his running
\nmate Rusdi Lubis. Leonardi is currently the speaker of the West
\nSumatra provincial council, while Rusdi is the secretary of the
\nWest Sumatra provincial administration.<\/p>\n
Zainal also tried to register with the National Mandate Party,
\nbut his application was turned down. Similar to the National
\nMandate Party, the coalition of the Indonesian Democratic Party
\nof Struggle (PDI-P), along with several small parties, had also
\nrejected the candidacy of Zainal.<\/p>\n
Zainal's application was at last accepted by the coalition of
\nthe United Development Party and the Democrat Party, but he also
\nlost during an internal election. The coalition opted for Kapitra
\nAmpera, a lawyer and his running mate Dalimi Abdullah, a senior
\ngovernment official.<\/p>\n
The only coalition or party with whom Zainal did not file an
\napplication, was the coalition of the Prosperous Justice Party
\nand the Reform Star Party. That coalition had firmly stated
\nearlier that they would only nominate legislator Irwan Prayitno
\nand councillor Ikasuma Hamid as the party's governor and deputy
\ngovernor hopefuls.<\/p>\n
According to one local political observer, Zainul's failure
\nwas a result of most parties now striving for a clean image,
\nwhile Zainul had obviously been tainted by the corruption case.<\/p>\n
Ranny, an observer from Andalas University in Padang, said
\nthat the political parties had perceived Zainal to be a liability
\nso they chose to ignore him.<\/p>\n
\"Zainal is now a suspect in a corruption case, so political
\nparties didn't have the courage to take the risk of being
\nabandoned by the public if they were to choose Zainal,\" espoused
\nRanny.<\/p>\n
Zainal, who served as West Sumatra Governor from 2000 until
\nearlier this year, has been named a suspect for allegedly
\nembezzling Rp 5.9 billion (US$655,555) from the provincial
\nbudget.<\/p>\n
The election laws stipulate that those wishing to run for
\ngovernor must be nominated by a political party or coalition.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/jp5governor-1447899208",
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