Draft of city bylaw on municipal councils presented

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)