Councillors threaten to boycott governor election
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The 12 members of the National Mandate Party (PAN) faction on the City Council have threatened to stage a walkout should councillors be required to write down the names of their chosen candidates on their ballot papers when voting in the Jakarta gubernatorial election for the 2002-2007 term.
"We oppose the need to write the gubernatorial and vice gubernatorial candidates' names on the ballot papers. Therefore, it is better for us to walk out of the plenary session if they insist on it," councillor Syamsidar Siregar told reporters on Monday.
Syamsidar was referring to previous reports that a group of legislators from several political factions, led by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) faction, were insisting that the councillors write down the names of their chosen candidates on their ballot papers.
The election is scheduled to take place on Sept. 11.
Syamsidar and other opposition councillors said that as councillors could be identified from their handwriting, the requirement could lead to manipulation and bribery.
According to Syamsidar, his faction would withdraw councillor Suwardi (also of the PAN faction), from his position as the chairman of the election committee if the handwriting requirement was insisted on.
Meanwhile, some other councillors, lead by the National Mandate Party (PAN) faction, said on Monday that the names of the seven pairs of candidates should be printed on the ballot papers with each councillor then just marking, ticking or punching the names of whoever they wished to vote for.
The election committee, whose members consist of representatives from the 11 factions on the City Council, have met several times but have failed to reach an agreement on the issue.
On Tuesday, the election committee will meet again and if a deal is not reached, the issue will be taken to a council plenary session.
PDI Perjuangan faction chairman Agung Imam Soemanto insisted that writing down the names of the selected candidates on the ballot paper was a common practice in legislative institutions like the People's Consultative Assembly and the House of Representatives.
Agung stressed that his faction would vote in favor of the system if the matter went before a plenary session.
Observers assume that the system will make it easier for Agung to control the loyalty of 30 members of his party in supporting incumbent Governor Sutiyoso.
The PDI Perjuangan's support for Sutiyoso was ordered by party chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri. The party has said it will sanction any councillors or party members opposing the chairwoman's directive.
In a related development, election committee member Posman Siahaan said that Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno would likely approve the seven pairs of gubernatorial and vice gubernatorial candidates on Tuesday.
"My source says that there is no reason not to approve all the candidates," Posman told journalists on Monday.
The seven tickets are: Sutiyoso-Fauzi Bowo, Tarmdi Suhardjo- Abdillah Toha, Edy Waluyo-Ahmad Suaidy, Marzuki Usman- Abdul Halim Asyhari, Mahfud Djaelani-Doli Diapary, Ahmad Heryawan-Igo Ilham, and Endang Darmawan-Dadang Hamdani.