Betawi Forum demands native governor

Betawi Forum demands native governor

JAKARTA: The newly established Betawi (native Jakartan)
organization threatened on Sunday to send hordes of its
supporters onto the streets if the next governor was not a
Betawi.

"Whoever the governor is, they should be a Betawi. If not, we
will deploy 100,000 people onto the streets," said chairman of
the Betawi Community Brotherhood Forum Iwan Setiawan, as quoted
by Detikcom news online.

Jakarta's gubernatorial election will be on Sept. 17 with
several Betawi candidates, including the current City Secretary,
Fauzi Bowo, and Deputy Governor for Social Welfare Affairs
Djailani.

However, City Governor Sutiyoso, who is not a Betawi, is
currently considered the strongest candidate because he has
received support from the largest party, the Indonesian
Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), and other parties
in the City Council.

Since the country's independence, the governor of Jakarta has
always been a member of the military, there has never been a
Betawi.

Sutiyoso was former Jakarta Military Commander during the last
years of former authoritarian president Soeharto. --JP