Banjarmasin mayor faces impeachment
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.