Rusli brings governorship election victory back home<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Nineteen years ago, on Sept. 2, 1985, Ismail Suko was elected as
\nthe governor of Riau after he defeated rival candidate Imam
\nMunandar in the gubernatorial election. Imam was the incumbent
\ngovernor of Riau at that time.<\/p>\n
But, the victory, which Ismail earned after a tense ballot in
\nthe Riau legislative council, was short-lived.<\/p>\n
The New Order government, which had backed Imam for a second
\nterm, rejected the election outcome and stepped up the pressure
\non Ismail, who was the secretary of the Riau legislative council
\nat the time, to resign the governorship.<\/p>\n
Ismail finally resigned, paving the way for Imam to take the
\nhelm of Riau administration from 1985 to 1990.<\/p>\n
\"At the time, I got 19 votes, while Imam garnered 17 votes. I
\nshould have been the Riau governor,\" Ismail recounted.<\/p>\n
Ismail was sorely disappointed that he was barred from
\nbecoming the governor of Riau, but, as they say, he who laughs
\nlast laughs longest.<\/p>\n
On Friday last week, after 19 years, Ismail had the pleasure
\nof seeing one of his kin avenging the injustice that had been
\nmeted out to him.<\/p>\n
Revenge came in the form of Rusli Zainal, Ismail's son-in-law,
\nwho was sworn in as Riau governor last week.<\/p>\n
Rusli, the husband of Ismail's daughter Septina Primawati, was
\nelected as Riau governor for the 2003 to 2008 period.<\/p>\n
Rusli was elected on Oct. 22 this year, after he secured 34
\nout of 55 votes in the Riau legislative council, defeating the
\nincumbent governor, Saleh Djasit.<\/p>\n
Rusli's victory was reminiscent of the success of his father-
\nin-law back in 1985, when Ismail also defeated the incumbent
\ngovernor.<\/p>\n
The only difference was that Rusli has been allowed to take
\nthe helm of the Riau administration, while his father-in-law had
\nto accept the reality that his dream of becoming governor was not
\ngoing to be accepted by the New Order administration.<\/p>\n
But, Rusli and Ismail both faced strong efforts to foil their
\nshots at the governorship.<\/p>\n
In his day, Ismail was terrorized into surrendering his
\nvictory to Imam, the incumbent governor. Nineteen years later,
\nRusli also had his fair share of problems. Rusli's enemies not
\nonly tried to thwart him during the gubernatorial election, but
\nthey also tried later to destroy the fruits of his victory.<\/p>\n
During the election, Rusli's adversaries spread gossip that
\nRusli had had an affair with popular singer Iyet Bustami. They
\nalso spread rumors that Rusli had been involved in corruption
\nwhile serving as the regent of Indragiri Hilir.<\/p>\n
He survived the rumors, and went on to win the gubernatorial
\nelection.<\/p>\n
Another rumor emerged after he won the election.<\/p>\n
It was said that the election had been tainted by money
\npolitics, and, therefore, the President should put the governor's
\ninauguration on hold until the investigation into the allegation
\nhad been completed.<\/p>\n
But, all the efforts to foil his inauguration have failed.<\/p>\n
Rusli and his running mate Wan Abubakar were finally sworn in
\nby Hari Sabarno, the minister of home affairs, on Nov. 21 as the
\ngovernor and deputy governor of Riau.<\/p>\n
Hari pointed out that Rusli had been legally installed as the
\nRiau governor and no one should question again the outcome of the
\ngubernatorial election. \"He has been elected democratically,\"
\nHari told those in attendance at the swearing-in, as quoted by
\nAntara.<\/p>\n
Rusli was born on Dec. 3, 1957. His father, Zainal, was a
\nfarmer in Mandah district in the Riau regency of Indra Hilir.<\/p>\n
A graduate of the School of Economics of Riau University,
\nRusli was offered a job in the Riau provincial administration's
\nDevelopment Planning Section.<\/p>\n
But, according to his wife Septina, he refused the offer,
\npreferring to start his own business.<\/p>\n
In the vision and mission statement he delivered during the
\nRiau gubernatorial election, Rusli pledged to improve the quality
\nof human resources in Riau, a resource-rich province with a
\npopulation of 5.5 million.<\/p>",
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