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.