Convicted council speaker supported
Fadli, The Jakarta Post, Tanjung Pinang
Despite being sentenced to three years' jail for forgery, Tanjung Pinang city council speaker Bobby Jayanto cannot legally be removed from his position, councillors supporting him claim.
Deputy council speaker Maria Titiek P. Angesti, of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle faction, said that based on Law 32/2004 on regional government and Law No. 22/2003 on the composition of legislative bodies as well as the municipal council guidelines, a replacement could only be made if he was convicted and the penalty had "permanent legal power".
"But Bobby Jayanto is still appealing the case and taking other legal measures. According to existing regulations, he is still the Tanjung Pinang municipal council speaker until the Tanjung Pinang court verdict has permanent legal power," Maria told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
On Monday, the Tanjung Pinang District Court in Riau Islands province handed down the sentence to Bobby after he was proven guilty of using a fake senior high school diploma when running for the council.
Bobby, of the Pancasila Patriots Party, is serving his 2004- 2009 office term for the municipality.
The verdict was less than the five years requested by prosecutors for Bobby, who faked a senior high school equivalency diploma supposed to have been issued by the Jakarta province's Education Office. The Tanjung Pinang Police received a letter from the office, confirming it had no record of him ever taking the test.
"If all the councillors demand the election of a new council speaker, and it is conducted according to the existing procedures, it's fine. But so far, the councillors still find it unnecessary to replace the council speaker," Maria said.
Another councillor, Muhammad Arif of the Prosperous Justice Party, said on Tuesday there was no discussion among the councillors to replace Bobby following the court decision.
"We're still waiting for the (appeal process) before he can be replaced," Muhammad said
Hajjrullah of Tanjung Pinang's Mosque Communication Forum, the organization, which reported Bobby's fake diploma to the police, said it was high time the city councillors replaced the speaker with a better leader.
However, Bobby's lawyer, Hendie Devitra, said his client would appeal the verdict to the Pekanbaru High Court, saying the case was politically motivated and had been exaggerated by Bobby's enemies who wanted him out of the council.
"The appeal will be immediately proposed to the High Court. We find that the Tanjung Pinang District Court has not been objective. The fake diploma mentioned by the prosecutor was not tabled in the court as evidence. Bobby has not been proven guilty," Hendie said.