Civilians join military in gubernatorial election race

Civilians join military in gubernatorial election race

Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The city's 85 councillors are scheduled to elect the new Jakarta
governor and vice governor on Sept. 17. So far, 50 nomination
forms have been issued by the council. There are, perhaps, only
six candidates who have any realistic chance of getting elected.
The Jakarta Post is profiling these six in a two-article series.
This is the second of the articles.

Harun Alrasyid. The incumbent West Nusa Tenggara (NTB)
governor has secured the approval of the province's legislative
council to run in the Jakarta gubernatorial election.

The former Jakarta deputy governor for economics and financial
affairs still needs President Megawati Soekarnoputri's approval.

Born in Bima, West Nusa Tenggara, on Dec. 27, 1942, Harun
became well-known as an administration official in Jakarta as he
held several important posts, including Tanjung Priok district
chief in 1973, South Jakarta mayor in 1989 and city secretary in
1993.

Harun, a graduate of the University of Indonesia, is one of
two strong civilian candidates. He has expressed his readiness to
contest the election despite earlier condemnation by NTB
legislators.

With strong financial muscle, Harun is considered to be a real
challenger to Governor Sutiyoso, who will also run in the
election.

Harun has reportedly received the support of councillors from
the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the former ruling Golkar
Party.

Maj. Gen. (ret) Djailani. The incumbent deputy governor for
social welfare affairs was among the first to collect a
nomination form on the first day of registration last week.

Born in Jakarta on June 17, 1942, Djailani, who graduated from
the medical faculty of the University of Indonesia in 1966,
joined the army as a volunteer in 1964.

The father of four spent most of his military career in the
army's Medical Corps, including a stint as director of the Gatot
Subroto Army Hospital in 1991.

He was appointed as an assistant to the State Minister for
Population Affairs, Haryono Suyono, in 1996 before being
installed as the deputy governor on Sept. 17, 1997.

Djailani is strongly supported by the Betawi (indigenous
Jakartans) Representative Body (Bamus Betawi), and several
councillors from PAN and the Indonesian Military/Police faction.

Fauzi Bowo. The incumbent City Secretary has also been tipped
as another strong candidate with a civilian background. However,
he has always been reluctant to express his wishes openly.

Fauzi was born in Jakarta on April 10, 1948. He attended
junior and senior high school at Kolese Kanisius in Menteng,
Central Jakarta.

Born into a rich Betawi (native Jakartan) family, Fauzi
entered the University of Indonesia in 1966, and after graduating
he continued his studies in architecture at the Technical
University in Brunsweig, Germany.

Fauzi, who is recorded by the Public Servants' Wealth Audit
Commission (KPKPN) as the richest official in the administration
with assets worth Rp 17 billion (US$1.9 million), secured his
doctoral degree in architecture from Kaiserslautern University,
also in Germany.

Fauzi, who is married to Sri Hartati and has three children,
began his career in the administration as the head of the
Gubernatorial Protocol Office in 1977 and the Jakarta Tourism
Agency in 1993 before being installed as the City Secretary in
1998.

He is reportedly supported by councillors from PAN, Golkar and
some tiny factions on the council.