Council speaker to be picked on April 10

JAKARTA: City Council deputy speaker Chudlari Shafi'i said on Tuesday that a plenary session to elect a new speaker would be held on April 10 to replace Edy Waluyo, who resigned in August 2002 to run for the governorship.

"On the same day, before the election, we will first take a vote on whether the council will replace deputy speaker Tarmidi Suhardjo with another representative from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) faction," Chudlari said.

A vote would resolve the crisis within the PDI Perjuangan faction following the party's suggestion to the council that Agung Imam Sumanto be named as its candidate for the speakership given that Tarmidi had been dismissed as the party's regional chairman. --JP