Support grows for Sultan's reelection as governor<\/p>\n
Sri Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta<\/p>\n
Hundreds of supporters of Sultan Hamengkubuwono X arrived
\nat the provincial legislative council on Monday to express
\nsupport for the sultan's reelection as the province's
\ngovernor for the 2003-2008 period.<\/p>\n
Among the supporters were heads of villages in Sleman regency,
\nmembers of Sleman villages' legislative council (BPD) and Sleman
\nRegent Ibnu Subiyanto. Ibnu, however, declined to admit that his
\npresence among demonstrators was to express support for the
\nsultan's reelection, arguing that he just wanted to hear his
\npeople's aspirations.<\/p>\n
\"They are my people. I, therefore, feel obliged to come to
\nhear what they say. I myself will let the legislative council
\nconduct the whole political process according to prevailing
\nlaws,\" Ibnu said.<\/p>\n
Hamengkubuwono X, who was elected Yogyakarta governor in 1998,
\nwill end his term of office in October this year. The provincial
\nlegislative council is set to hold a gubernatorial election in
\nAugust.<\/p>\n
A special committee set up to prepare the election procedures
\nfinished its job last month. The final draft of the election
\nprocedures was supposed to have been approved early this month.<\/p>\n
The special committee, comprising representatives from all
\nfactions in the council, had agreed to elect and not appoint a
\ngovernor.<\/p>\n
The scheduled plenary session for endorsing the final draft of
\nthe election procedures early this month was called off after
\nfour of the six factions in the legislature abandoned the session
\ndue to the presence of some 1,000 supporters of Sultan
\nHamengkubuwono X.<\/p>\n
The sultan's supporters, mostly coming from Bantul regency,
\ndemanded that the legislature appoint the sultan directly as the
\ngovernor instead of conducting an election.<\/p>\n
Only the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI
\nPerjuangan) and Golkar factions stayed. The two factions later
\nchanged their minds and demanded that the council directly
\nappoint the sultan as governor and Pakualam IX as vice governor.<\/p>\n
Speaking in front of supporters of the sultan from Sleman on
\nMonday, Yogyakarta provincial legislative council speaker
\nSoerasmo Priyandono said he would channel the people's
\naspirations through a plenary session rescheduled for this
\nSaturday.<\/p>\n
In a separate move, the PDI Perjuangan Yogyakarta provincial
\nexecutive board also held an internal meeting here to prepare a
\nstrategy to ensure that the sultan is appointed rather than
\nelected in a bid to maintain the province's special status.<\/p>\n
Bantul Regent Idham Samawi reportedly also attended
\nthe internal meeting on Monday afternoon.<\/p>\n
Even if there is an election, the sultan appears to be the
\nstrongest contender for the governorship.<\/p>\n
At least four influential parties in the province, including
\nPDI Perjuangan, Golkar, the National Awakening Party (PKB) and
\nthe National Mandate Party, announced earlier that they would
\nname the sultan their candidate for the coming gubernatorial
\nrace.<\/p>\n
\"The reason why we want an election rather than appointment is
\nthat we want to assure that democracy exists in the province,\"
\nchairman of the council's National Mandate faction Immawan
\nWahyudi said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/support-grows-for-sultans-reelection-as-governor-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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