Embattled Kampar regent comes under more pressure
Embattled Kampar regent comes under more pressure
Haidir Anwar Tanjung, The Jakarta Post, Pekanbaru, Riau
Kampar regent Jefri Noer is facing widespread opposition in the
regency as calls increase for his ouster.
As of Thursday, more than 100 civil servants from various
divisions of the Kampar government urged the regency council to
dismiss the regent, following massive protests by students and
teachers in the regency. The demand came only one day after 10
high-ranking regency government officials filed a similar call
with the regency council.
Syafrizal, the deputy chairman of the council's special team
investigating the case, said that the representatives of the
civil servants handed over a letter to him in which they
expressed disappointment with the regent.
A total of 136 civil servants signed the letter, he said.
"The demand by civil servants shows that the crisis of
confidence has become widespread in the regency," he told The
Jakarta Post.
In the written statement, the civil servants expressed concern
that chaos would prevail in the regency if the regent continued
to stay in power.
Most schools have been closed since students and teachers
began to protest last week. The wheels of Kampar's bureaucracy
were also badly affected by the protests, as demonstrators
occupied the Kampar government's office on several occasions.
The civil servants have demanded that the council force the
regent to resign, so that the situation in the regency could
return to normal.
Separately, thousands of teachers and students continued to
strike on Thursday, the ninth day of the protest, despite calls
from various parties that they should end it.
Riau governor Rusli Zainal, argued that the protesters should
stop the strike, because the demand was being processed at the
Kampar Regency Council.
The council will convene on Saturday to decide the fate of the
beleaguered regent. A special team established by the council to
investigate the brouhaha has already recommended that the council
fire Jefri.
Separately, support for the teacher and student protesters
continue to pour in. Nurhadi, the chairman of Tapung district All
Indonesian Teachers Association (PGRI), said that several
representatives from four regencies visited him on Thursday.
They were from Pekanbaru, Pelalawan, Kuantan Singingi and
Rokan Hulu regencies. "They strongly support our fight to force
Jefri to resign," said Nurhadi.
The protests against the regent date back to two weeks ago,
when the regent held a meeting with representatives of teachers
in the regency. They met at the regental office, some 60
kilometers west of Pekanbaru, the capital of Riau province.
Tension rose in the meeting, when a teacher, Abdul Latif,
questioned the regent on the regency's low education budget.
The regent became angry and ordered the teacher to leave the
room.
The incident was not the only cause of the protests, as Jefri
has been the center of controversy before. In 2002, he was
accused of using a fake senior high school diploma to gain
eligibility to take the post of regent.
The regency council voted, on another occasion, for his
dismissal over various controversial policies, but the decision
was annulled by Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno.