City Council to vote on choice of speaker

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Home Affairs Syarwan Hamid on Tuesday said the post of speaker of the Jakarta City Council would not automatically go to the political party which garnered the most votes in the elections in the capital.

Syarwan said the next council speaker should be determined by an election based on the council's existing internal regulations.

"The speaker should be elected by all of the councilors," he said after attending the council's special plenary session to commemorate the capital's 472nd anniversary.

Final poll results for the capital have not been announced, but in the provisional vote count the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) is in the lead.

The party led by Megawati Soekarnoputri, the eldest daughter of founding president Sukarno, was leading the polls with 1,751,886 votes, followed by the United Development Party (PPP) with 781,059 votes, the National Mandate Party (PAN) with 738,819 votes and Golkar Party with 462,615 votes.

Based on the provisional results, PDI Perjuangan is projected to gain 31 of the 85 seats on the council. Nine of the 85 seats have been allocated to the Indonesian Military (TNI).

According to Azis Boeang from PDI Perjuangan's Jakarta chapter, his party has already decided on its candidate for the speaker's post.

"However, we have to first listen to councilors from the other parties," he said.

He refused to name the party's candidate. However, sources in the council say that Boeang has been tipped by PDI Perjuangan to become the next speaker of the council.

According to Boeang, PDI Perjuangan does not want the City Council to be led by someone from the military.

"The governor is already from the military. So we don't want the council to also be chaired by someone from TNI," he said.

The current speaker of the council is Edy Waluyo, an active two-star Army general, while Governor Sutiyoso is an active three-star Army general.

A number of the current city councilors said on Monday the next speaker of the council should be elected by council members rather than simply being appointed by the party which won the elections in the city.

"The next speaker will depend on the votes of members of the council," Hizbiyah Rochim of the United Development Party said.

Nitra Arsyad of Golkar Party added: "In my opinion, the election process for the council speaker should be based on voting mechanisms which accommodate the parties' voices. I think that is in line with the reform movement, isn't it?".(ind)