Draft of city bylaw on municipal councils presented

JAKARTA (JP): City Council presented on Thursday a rough draft of a city bylaw on municipal councils.

The deputy chairman of City Council Commission A for government affairs, Syarifien Maloko, said the council would hold an internal meeting on Feb. 19 concerning the draft bylaw on municipal councils.

"I expect that the draft can be approved in March," he told reporters after the City Council's plenary session to hear the presentation of the draft.

He said a municipal council, which would function as a consultant for the mayor, would comprise one representative from each district in the area. Generally, one mayoralty overseas eight districts. Jakarta has 43 districts.

Municipal councils will be designed to empower people at the mayoralty level to participate in the development of their own communities, as well as to control the activities of their mayoralty administrations.

Syarifien said subdistrict councils would elect municipal council members from members of the community who meet the criteria of professionalism and independence.

Council membership is open to all city residents, including those who are active members of political parties, but they should represent themselves, not their party, he said.

He cited that a member of a subdistrict council could not be elected as a municipal council member unless he or she first resigned from the subdistrict council.

When asked about council members' remuneration, Syarifien said he had yet to learn how much a member would be paid, but said the amount would be taken from the city budget.

He said many councillors had proposed to pay members twice the amount that subdistrict members earn. (04)