NGOs demand Sutiyoso's ouster<\/p>\n
Damar Harsanto, Jakarta<\/p>\n
About 100 protesters from several non-governmental organizations
\nrallied on Monday in front of City Council to demand the
\ncouncillors recommend Governor Sutiyoso's dismissal.<\/p>\n
The protesters claimed the governor was not fit to continue in
\noffice because of his status as a suspect in the violent attack
\non the Jakarta headquarters of the Indonesian Democratic Party
\n(PDI) on July 27, 1996, and his inability to alleviate poverty in
\nthe city.<\/p>\n
Edi Saidi of the Urban Poor Consortium (UPC), which
\ncoordinated the rally, said Article 18 of Law No. 22\/1999 on the
\ncity administration stipulated that the City Council could
\nrecommend the dismissal of a governor.<\/p>\n
\"A governor can be dismissed if there is a crisis of
\nconfidence. This has widespread support among the public,
\nrelating to a case in which he is involved,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The police reopened the July 27 case early last month and
\nnamed Sutiyoso as one of 12 suspects. They submitted the
\ngovernor's case file to the Attorney General's Office along with
\nthe case files of the 11 other suspects, but late last month the
\noffice returned the files and asked the police to submit
\nSutiyoso's case file separately.<\/p>\n
Sutiyoso was the Jakarta Military commander when the attack on
\nthe PDI office took place. According to official reports, five
\npeople were killed, 149 injured and 23 went missing in the
\nattack.<\/p>\n
The protesters on Monday also criticized Sutiyoso's policies
\ntoward the city's poor.<\/p>\n
\"Sutiyoso aggressively demolished our homes and evicted
\npedicab drivers and street vendors from the capital during his
\nfirst term between 1997 and 2003,\" Rasdullah, a pedicab driver
\nwho took part in the protest, said.<\/p>\n
Rasdullah, who tried but failed to qualify for the 2002
\ngubernatorial election, said more than 87,000 families in 40
\nkampongs across the city had been affected by the evictions. That
\nfigure does not include the some 22,000 pedicab drivers and
\n51,000 street vendors who have lost their jobs because of
\nSutiyoso's policies, he said.<\/p>\n
Councillors Posman Siahaan of the Indonesian Justice and Unity
\nParty faction and Soleh Rachman of the National Mandate Party met
\nwith the protesters.<\/p>\n
The meeting quickly ended when the protesters attempted to
\nforce the councillors to sign a statement saying they supported
\nSutiyoso's dismissal, which the councillors refused to sign.<\/p>",
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