Amin wins S. Sulawesi gubernatorial election

Jupriadi, The Jakarta Post, Makassar

Amin Syam, the Golkar Party candidate, won a major victory in the South Sulawesi gubernatorial election on Thursday for the 2003- 2008 period to replace outgoing governor H.Z.B. Palaguna.

Amin, chairman of the provincial legislative council, along with partner Syahrul Yasin Limpo, the current regent of Gowa, gained 39 of 75 votes in the election conducted in a plenary session of the provincial legislative council.

Aksa Mahmud and Nurdin Halid, two other candidates who contended the gubernatorial election, shared the remaining 36 votes equally.

Amin was nominated by Golkar, a major faction in the provincial legislature, while Aksa and Nurdin were nominated by the Ummat Mandate faction and the National Unity and Justice faction, respectively.

The one-hour election was highlighted by interruptions on internal electoral rulings from more than 40 legislators.

Many legislators interrupted the elections because the home minister has yet to issue any letter of approval on the three candidates, and because of the absence of ballot sheets.

The situation in the plenary session returned to calm after Eddy Baramuli, chairman of the election committee, informed legislators that the committee had received the central government's approval for the three candidates for governor and the three candidates for deputy governor.

Thousands of people supporting the three candidates dispersed under tight security involving almost 1,500 police personnel after the committee announced the election results.

Nurdin hailed the election in a statement and said, "The provincial legislative council has held the election in a democratic and smooth manner and I'm quite satisfied with it."

Aksa said he was ready to support Amin in leading the province for the next five years.

"The election went on democratically. Winning or losing are normal in such an event, and that is part of democracy. I was prepared to lose long before the election was held," he said.

Amin expressed gratitude for his supporters, who helped gain a major victory for him in the election, with hopes that such support would also be available to develop the province in the next five years.

Amin's winning team and legislators of other parties had held a series of meetings in Jakarta and Makassar to lobby for his victory in the election.

In accordance with the law, the public was given three days to file their objections against the elect governor and deputy governor. The election result will be annulled should the two winning pair be found guilty of bribing legislators in order to buy their votes.

After the public scrutiny, the election results were submitted to the home minister to gain approval from President Megawati Soekarnoputri. Amin and Yusron are scheduled to be sworn in on Jan. 19, 2003.

The police are still investigating the allegation of bribery involving Amin and legislators of other political parties.