Council dismisses Cirebon mayor

Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post, Cirebon, West Java

The 30-member legislative council removed on Wednesday Cirebon Mayor Subardi and his deputy Agus Alwafier after only eight months in office, accusing them of misusing their position.

The decision was made during a one-and-a-half-hour plenary session, in which the council rejected the mayor's responses to questions posed to him by councillors about irregularities in his administration.

"It is evident that the mayor has lost his legitimacy," said Cirebon Legislative Council Speaker Suryana from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan).

He said the withdrawal of political support for Subardi means that he has been dismissed as mayor.

Council deputy speaker Soenaryo, from the Golkar Party, said one of the mayor's most serious mistakes was that he often misused his power.

Citing as an example, he said Subardi launched a reshuffle of officials at his administration without asking for advice from the council and the city's ranking and post supervisory board (Baperjakat).

Councillors also accused the mayor of corruption in connection with the approval of several development projects.

His other blunder was when he held a secret meeting with the central bank governor, which was tightly guarded by police and Navy soldiers, Soenaryo added. What they discussed remains unclear.

"At the time, there was not a single official at the Cirebon administration who knew about the meeting. Neither were the deputy mayor and the city secretary aware of it," he added.

Another councillor Enang Iman Gana, from the United Development Party (PPP), said Subardi often neglected his duties, as the mayor frequently disappeared from his office.

"Imagine, his adjutant did not even know of his whereabouts. This often happens. So, if the mayor does not go to office, it means he doesn't work," Enang added.

Subardi's dismissal won support from the three main factions in the council -- PDI Perjuangan, Golkar and PPP. Backing also came from the Justice and Unity faction and the Crescent Star Party (PBB) faction.

Nineteen of the 30 council members voted to remove the mayor and only 11 others opposed the decision.

Subardi could not be reached for comment. His cellular phone was switched off and his staff refused to reveal his whereabouts.

Soenaryo and Enang said the council had sent a letter to President Megawati Soekarnoputri through Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno to inform them about the leadership crisis in Cirebon.

"We leave the problem to the President to take a final decision. What is clear is that the mayor has lost legitimacy," Soenaryo added.

He asked the central government to seriously take into account the council's decision on the dismissal of Subardi. "Otherwise, we will firmly challenge it."

Subardi and Agus Alwafier were elected as mayor and deputy mayor, respectively, by the council in January 2003, and were sworn in by the West Java governor on April 16. They were nominated by PDI Perjuangan and the National Mandate Party (PAN).

Bitter feuds between regents and mayors and their local legislative councils have often taken place in Indonesia, resulting in their removal.

Experts have blamed confusion over existing laws on regional administrations for such dismissals.

In July last year, the Surabaya Legislative Council decided to dismiss Surabaya Mayor Bambang Dwi Hartono after he failed to present his revised budget accountability statement for the fiscal year 2001. However, the central government rejected the decision.

Earlier, the same council had also removed Bambang's predecessor Soenarto as the Surabaya mayor.