West Java councillors say no to Cirebon<\/p>\n
Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung<\/p>\n
The proposed formation of Cirebon province has met with
\nopposition from local political leaders in West Java who say it
\nis an unpopular idea raised by certain groups for vested
\ninterests.<\/p>\n
Rudi Harsa Tanaya, secretary of the Indonesian Democratic
\nParty of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) chapter in West Java,
\nconfirmed that his party had not received any proposal on the
\nformation of Cirebon province and had not discussed the issue.<\/p>\n
\"Besides, PDI Perjuangan, a major faction in the West Java
\nprovincial legislative council, will never put its political
\nweight behind the proposal because socioeconomic conditions in
\nthe province's northern areas are relatively better than the
\nsouth,\" he told The Jakarta Post here on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The Cirebon and Indramayu legislatures have supported the
\nformation of Cirebon province, initially proposed by the Cirebon
\nSultanate. They assert that the Cirebon, Indramayu, Karawang,
\nKuningan, Sumedang and Ciamis regencies are culturally different
\nto the predominantly Sundanese West Java and have their own
\neconomic potentials.<\/p>\n
Rudi, also chairman of the PDI Perjuangan faction in the
\nprovincial legislature, said he suspected the idea was raised by
\ncertain party members in Cirebon for political interests because
\nthe issue had been discussed by party branches in Cirebon,
\nKarawang, Kuningan, Sumedang, Kuningan and Majalengka.<\/p>\n
He called on local leaders in the region to rethink the
\npolitical and cultural motives involved in the issue. He said the
\nlocal political leaders should focus not on their own political
\ninterests but on the problems of the common people.<\/p>\n
He said that seen from the cultural, economic and historical
\npoint of view, Cirebon was extremely different from Banten that
\nseparated from the West Java province last year.<\/p>\n
\"The formation of Banten province was widely accepted because
\nthe Banten Sultanate was independent and separate from West Java
\nduring the colonial era,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Besides, he said, the proposal could set a bad precedent
\nshould it be accepted because the Priangan Timur region would
\nfollow suit and propose to be separated from the province.<\/p>\n
Yomanius Untung, chairman of the Golkar Party chapter in the
\nprovince, concurred saying that he was not sure that the majority
\nof people in Cirebon, Karawang, Kuningan, Majalengka and Sumedang
\nsupported the proposal.<\/p>\n
\"The Golkar chapter in that region has not received a proposal
\non the formation of a new province and our party will not support
\nit,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Suherwan, chief of the national unity affairs
\ndepartment at the provincial administration, acknowledged that a
\nnumber of leaders in Cirebon had proposed the formation of
\nCirebon province after political leaders in West Java proposed a
\nchange in the province's name from West Java to Pasundan
\nfollowing Banten's separation from the province in 2000.<\/p>\n
\"Political and community leaders in Cirebon then threatened to
\nform a new province should the West Java province's name be
\nchanged to Pasundan,\" he said.<\/p>\n
According to him, Cirebon should avoid making a hasty decision
\nto form a new province because many aspects needed to be taken
\ninto consideration.<\/p>\n
\"Cirebon should learn from the experience of Banten which is
\nfacing many difficulties in electing its new governor as many
\ninterest groups have allegedly used money politics to win the
\ngubernatorial election,\" he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/west-java-councillors-say-no-to-cirebon-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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