Golkar boycotts plenary session

Golkar boycotts plenary session

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan, North Sumatra

All 19 councillors of the Golkar Party skipped attending a
plenary session on Friday in a protest against the presence of
Deputy North Sumatra Governor Rudolf Pardede.

The plenary session was scheduled to hear President Megawati
Soekarnoputri's annual speech, which was televised across the
country.

The Golkar members of the provincial legislative council had
unanimously decided not to join the meeting because Rudolf showed
up. They claim he is not qualified to serve as deputy governor.

Marzuki, who chairs the Golkar faction in the council, said
that since Rudolf remained unable to submit his university
degree, he could not be considered as "qualified" for the second
top post in North Sumatra.

"We will continue to boycott all activities that Rudolf
attends until he can rectify the problem either legally or
administratively," Marzuki told The Jakarta Post.

The Golkar faction had also boycotted the swearing-in ceremony
of North Sumatra Governor Tengku Rizal Nurdin and Rudolf by the
Minister of Home Affairs on June 16.

He said Golkar's absence from the council's plenary session
was not intended to belittle the President, whose unveiling of
the draft 2004 state budget to the House of Representatives was
broadcast live by state-owned television station TVRI.

"We followed the President's speech individually, because it
is our obligation as councillors," Marzuki said.

Deputy council speaker Saladin Siringo-Ringo, who presided
over Friday's plenary meeting, said the boycott by the Golkar
members should not be regretted, but urged them not to repeat the
move.

"Let's be broad-minded in facing much greater duties," he
said.

After the meeting, Rudolf visited the office of the Golkar
faction at the council, apparently in an effort to clarify the
issue.

He said the meeting was to improve his relations with the
Golkar councillors. "The executive and legislative bodies must
team up to develop North Sumatra."

Asked about the problem with his diploma, Rudolf said it
should no longer be questioned, as he had been elected as the
deputy governor on May 26.

The pair of Rizal and Rudolf, backed by Megawati's Indonesian
Democratic Party of Struggle, defeated their rival candidates
from Golkar, chief prosecutor Chairuman Harahap and deputy
council speaker Serta Ginting.

Golkar has maintained that the election of Rizal and Rudolf
was legally flawed, as the latter does not have an authentic
university degree.