Banjarmasin mayor faces impeachment

Yuliansyah and Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Banjarmasin/Jakarta

Following the impeachment of South Kalimantan Governor Sjachriel Darham last month, the Mayor of Banjarmasin, Sofyan Arfan, faces similar action as Anti Provocateur Movement (Gapok) pressure continues to increase.

Gapok chairman Puar Junaidi said on Thursday that any leader would face impeachment if he or she violated existing regulations.

"We monitor all those in power," Puar said.

He said Sofyan Arfan had monopolized Banjarmasin administration development projects, such as the taking over the management and changing the function of five buildings on Jl. Hasan Baseri in downtown Banjarmasin.

Puar said the buildings should operated by P.D. Bangun Banua, a company owned by the regional administration.

The issue violated a decree issued by the South Kalimantan governor on June 24, 2002 which mandated P.D. Bangun Banua to manage the operation, he said.

The complex also should have been used for public offices, but the mayor had modified it to commercial premises.

Commenting on the criticism, National Mandate Party (PAN) faction councillor M. Yusrie said the factions in the regional legislative council would assess the situation before taking political action.

Meanwhile, home minister Hari Sabarno called on the South Kalimantan Legislative Council to reconcile with Governor Sjachriel Darham and his deputy Husin Kasah.

He acknowledged that he had reported the alleged impeachment to President Megawati Soekarnoputri.

The minister said that there were two aspects to the impeachment of the regional leaders: the procedure of accountability and suspicion of corruption.

If local councillors suspected the governor and vice governor of corruption, the case should be followed up with legal action, Hari said.

Even if the legal aspect was combined with the political aspect, there was a procedure that must be followed, he said.

The process included summoning the head of the regional administration to clarify the suspicion, or establish a special committee (pansus) to investigate and present its results to a plenary meeting.

If the governor is proven guilty and is convicted, the governor must relinquish his post.

"Concerning the impeachment of the vice governor, the local councillors are unable to explain why the vice governor is impeached," the minister added.

Hari said the local councillors and the governor must reconcile, though he refused to explain how they should do so.