Golkar's threat of dismissal criticized

Golkar's threat of dismissal criticized

The Jakarta Post, Kupang/Medan

Golkar Party councillors in East Nusa Tenggara slammed the
party's threat to dismiss members who did not vote for the
party's candidates in the provincial gubernatorial election on
Thursday.

Councillor Frans Dima Lendes, who is on the dismissal list,
said on Friday the plan was unwise and would lead to Golkar's
defeat in the 2004 legislative elections.

"I personally think that dismissing councillors will not solve
the problem. In fact, it will lead to Golkar's defeat in next
year's general election. It is an unwise step to take," he was
quoted as saying by Antara.

Lendes acknowledged that he said during an earlier internal
meeting of the Golkar Party faction that he would not vote for
Golkar's candidates Esthon Foenay and Gaspar Parang Ehok. He did
not elaborate on why he refused to vote for the pair, but said he
remained a true Golkar member.

Foenay and Ehok lost in the first round of the gubernatorial
election after garnering only 10 of 55 votes.

Piet A. Tallo and Frans Lebu Raya, backed by the Indonesian
Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), won the election
with 28 votes, beating out Viktor B. Laiskodak and Simon Hayon of
the Coalition faction, who received 27 votes.

The council's deputy speaker, Nico Woly, said Tallo and Frans
would now face a public assessment, a process that will last
until Monday and during which members of the public can convey
any complaints about the governor and deputy governor-elect.

A similar situation occurred in Lampung, where 16 councillors
from PDI Perjuangan were dismissed by the party on Wednesday
following the defeat of the party's candidates in the
gubernatorial election on Dec. 30, 2002.

In Medan, governor-elect T. Rizal Nurdin denied rumors that he
would replace several top officials in the North Sumatra
provincial administration due to their opposition to his and
deputy governor-elect Rudolf Pardede's election.

"It is not true. Change in the administration is a routine
process of improving the employees' skills and knowledge. It has
nothing to do with supporting or opposing my election," he told
The Jakarta Post.

Rizal said that in general all of the officials in the
administration had performed well and none of them were involved
in the election.

He also said changes in the administration had been planned
long before he was elected on May 26.

"Rotating officials can't be done based on likes and dislikes,
not in my administration," he said.

Rizal said a team had been established to supervise the
changes.