Council votes to support mayor despite 'poor record'

Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post, Cirebon, West Java

In an unexpected conclusion on Tuesday, the majority of the Cirebon Council accepted the accountability report by Mayor Subardi amid rumors of money politics involving him and councillors.

Although its leaders had vowed on Monday that they would reject the report because of Subardi's poor performance, the result of the plenary session proved to the contrary.

In December, the council had withdrawn its political support for the mayor and his deputy Agus Al Wafier for their incompetence in a move to oust them from office.

However, at Tuesday's session led by council speaker Suryana, 16 councillors accepted the mayor's accountability report while only 14 rejected it.

Ahead of the meeting, at least 18 council members -- 10 from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), six from the Golkar Party, one from the Crescent Star Party (PBB) and another from the Indonesian Justice and Unity Party (PKPI) -- were expected to vote against Subardi.

Several councillors had changed their minds at the meeting and joined the 12 councillors -- four from the National Mandate Party (PAN), three from the military and police faction, three from the National Awakening Party (PKB) and two from the United Development Party (PPP) -- who supported the mayor.

"The result of the voting comes as a great surprise, because it had been thought that there would be 18 votes from those factions that opposed the mayor and only 12 from those in favor of him. It is utterly strange," said Suryana, one Subardi's staunchest critics.

Deputy council speaker Soenaryo, who chairs Golkar's Cirebon branch, was also disappointed by the mayor's victory. He left the council building immediately after the plenary session.

As with Suryana, he also questioned the result of the council's vote, as it differed from the composition of factions that had agreed to reject the mayor's accountability statement.

"The votes of those factions was clearly greater, but why did the count change after the vote? It's illogical," Soenaryo said.

He admitted he had heard rumors that Subardi had paid Rp 1.7 billion (US$197,674) to have his accountability statement accepted by the council.

"It has been around for a long time, but to prove it is very difficult. If the rumors are true, it's extremely discouraging," Soeryono said.

Suryana and another deputy council speaker, Haries Sutamin, also confirmed that they were aware of the alleged money politics involving the mayor.

In regards the victory, Subardi, who hails from the PDI-P faction, expressed his gratitude to those who voted in his favor and said he would view those rejecting his report as constructive criticism.

"I will use it as fuel to better my performance," he said.

Suryana said the mayor's victory did not overturn the council's decision to withdraw its political support.

The decision was taken when Subardi failed to appear before the council to explain his perceived failings in running the local administration. Despite the censure, Subardi remained in office, as Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno was still reviewing the council's decision.

Suryana also accused the mayor of abuse of power, saying that the Subardi administration was not transparent, and that the mayor neglected to consult the council on the appointment and promotion of local officials.

He further alleged that the mayor had been guilty of corruption in a number of Cirebon development projects. "All of these failings provide concrete evidence that the mayor's performance has been very poor."

The Subardi-Al Wafier pairing were elected to their posts in January 2003 with the support of the PDI-P and PAN. Since becoming mayor, Subardi has reportedly stopped attending local PDI-P meetings, enraging his former supporters in the party.