Council speaker elected quickly

BATAM, Riau Islands: Soeryo Respationo from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) was elected the new speaker of the Batam legislative council in a unanimous decision achieved within only 15 minutes on Thursday.

All factions in the 45-strong council agreed to name Soeryo the new speaker for the 2004-2009 period, and Aris Hadi Halim of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and Chablullah Wibisono of the National Mandate Party (PAN) as his deputies.

Soeryo was nominated by the joint faction of PDI-P and Golkar Party which control seven and five seats in the council respectively. Meanwhile, PKS and PAN have six members each in the legislature.

"The election was held democratically. There were no machinations or manipulation. It is a unanimous decision by all the councillors to appoint me as the speaker," Soeryo said. --JP