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.