Election rerun planned for Lampung governor
Suherdjoko, The Jakarta Post, Semarang
Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno has indicated that President Megawati Soekarnoputri is likely to annul the result of the Dec. 30, 2002, Lampung gubernatorial election and ask the provincial legislature to hold another election.
Speaking to reporters after the inauguration of Central Java Governor Mardiyanto for another five-year term in Semarang on Saturday, the minister said Alziers Dianis Thabranie, who won the Lampung election, was allegedly involved in several cases that called into question his ability to lead the province.
"If he committed one or two errors ... we would likely pardon him. But he has allegedly done this many times and it has become a habit," he said.
The minister declined to discuss in detail the allegations against Alziers.
Hari did say the Lampung provincial legislative council had studied the matter and was preparing to hold another gubernatorial election.
"According to the provincial legislature, the election process will start from the first phase of gubernatorial candidates being nominated," he said.
Alziers, who is in the custody of the prosecutor's office in Bandar Lampung, has been undergoing medical treatment for pancreatic cancer at a hospital in Bandar Lampung, after several weeks in detention at the National Police Headquarters in Jakarta.
The suspect will be brought to trial once he is declared physically able.
Dr. Saragih, who is treating Alziers at the Bumi Waras Hospital in Bandar Lampung, told Kompas daily on Friday there was no special action being taken to treat the patient.
"There is no special action. We are doing the same treatment as his doctors at the Kramatjati Hospital in Jakarta," he said.
Jauhari Zaelani, a political analyst at Lampung University, called on the President to make an immediate decision on Alziers to avoid any confusion in Lampung.
"The President, who has the last say on the results of the gubernatorial election, should decide whether Alziers will be sworn in or not. If his victory is annulled, the President should ask the provincial legislative council to rehold the gubernatorial election. The central government should not let the leadership of the provincial administration remain vacant for a long time," he said.
Harun Al Rasyid, a constitutional law expert in Jakarta, said recently that the Lampung provincial council could sue the central government for overstepping its authority and causing a eight-month delay in the inauguration of Alziers.
He said said the government violated autonomy law No. 22/1999, which grants regions the right to elect their own governors.
"The government must play by the rules, and it did not," Harun said.