Candidates positioned for gubernatorial election

Candidates positioned for gubernatorial election

Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

All 85 city councillors will elect the governor and the vice
governor in the Sept. 17 gubernatorial election. So far, 50
nomination forms have been requested from the council. However,
there perhaps only six candidates who can realistically get
elected. The Jakarta Post will feature the profiles of the six in
two series of articles. This is the first part.

Lt. Gen. (ret) Sutiyoso. The incumbent governor is currently
tipped as the strongest candidate to be reelected for his second
five-year-term.

The former Jakarta Military Commander reportedly has the
support of President Megawati Soekarnoputri, chairwoman of the
largest party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI
Perjuangan), and Vice President Hamzah Haz, chairman of the
United Development Party (PPP).

He also reportedly received support from councillors from the
Indonesian Military (TNI) and the small Unity and Justice Party
(PKP).

His candidacy is controversial as Sutiyoso remains a suspect
for his alleged involvement in a bloody attack on Megawati's
party headquarters on Jl. Diponegoro, Central Jakarta, on July
27, 1996.

Born in Semarang on Dec. 6, 1944, Sutiyoso, a 1968 Indonesian
Military Academy graduate, spent most of his military career in
the army's special forces (Kopassus).

He also studied at the Brigade V Airborne in England in 1987,
the Joint Service Staff College in Canberra, Australia in 1989
and the 82nd Airborne division at Fort Bragg in the United States
in 1991.

Married to Setyorini, Sutiyoso, has two daughters -- Yessi
Riana Dilliyanti, 27 and Renny Yosnita Ariyanti, 22 -- was
installed as the governor on Oct. 6, 1997.

Maj. Gen. Edy Waluyo. The incumbent city council chairman has
reportedly secured an approval from the Jakarta Military
Commander, Maj. Gen. Bibit Waluyo, to run for the gubernatorial
election.

Edy was born in Klaten, Central Java, on June 5, 1945. He
graduated from the Military Academy in 1968 and was a military
district commander in West Java 1997.

He was the deputy of the human resources development at TNI
headquarters before he became the council's chairman in 1997.

After the 1999 general election, Edy was still active in the
TNI as well as the Council. In the council's plenary session, he
was elected, in a closed vote, as the council's chairman
defeating Djafar Badjeber from the PPP and Tarmidi Suhardjo from
the PDI Perjuangan.

Edy, who married Eny Rochaeni and has three sons: Budi
Susanto, Dandy Dwi Darmono and Satrio Tri Gunawan, was reportedly
supported also by councillors from the TNI faction at the council
and other tiny factions.

Tarmidi Suhardjo. The chairman of the city chapter of PDI
Perjuangan, which has 30 seats at the council, was earlier
nominated by the party's six branches as its sole candidate for
the next governor.

Born in Pekalongan, Central Java, on March 17, 1947, Tarmidi,
who is also the city council deputy, earlier expressed his
disagreement of Megawati's support to Sutiyoso. Instead, he
pledged to continue running for the election.

Tarmidi, who graduated from a high school in 1968, used to
work at the Cardig Air private firm before joining the party in
the 1980s.

Due to his part in defending Megawati's party headquarters, he
was jailed for nearly a year following the 1996 bloody attack. He
shared a cell with former Fretilin commander Xanana Gusmao, who
is now President of East Timor.

Tarmidi, is currently a suspect according to the Jakarta
Prosecutors' Office, in a controversial foreign trip case dubbed
Ancolgate. He has received strong support, from his party's
councillors in the election, despite the legal noose that may
clamp down on him in the future.