Government regulation saves Surabaya mayor
Ainur A. Sophia'an, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya
Surabaya Mayor Sunarto Prawiro was saved from impeachment by the Surabaya legislature on Monday for his unexplained absence over the last four months, thanks to Government Regulation No.1/2002 on provincial and regency internal rulings.
In a special plenary session attended by Deputy Mayor Bambang D.H., the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), the Joint faction and the Indonesian Military/National Police faction, the three largest groupings in the legislative council, gave their support to the proposed impeachment of Sunarto, popularly known as Cak Narto. However, Mohammad Basuki, chairman of the legislature, barred the special session from making a decision because it would have contravened the government regulation.
"We can not make a decision because the government regulation bars a special plenary session from making a special decision," he told the council.
Despite several interjections from the floor, Basuki, who presided over the special meeting, proposed the establishment of a special team to seek a unanimous solution to the problem through an ordinary plenary session, a proposal which eventually won support from a majority of legislators.
The three factions proposed Sunarto's impeachment on the grounds that he was no longer able to do his job due to health reasons.
Augustin Poliana, spokesman for the PDI Perjuangan faction, urged the legislative council to impeach the mayor and appoint Bambang as his replacement, because Sunarto was no longer able to lead the city.
The Indonesian Military/National Police faction said the legislative council should remove the mayor in an honorable manner, to give him enough time to undergo medical treatment. The joint faction shared the view that Sunarto was no longer able to perform his daily tasks.
The National Awakening Party (PKB) faction said it was ready to cooperate with other factions to determine Sunarto's fate.
The special plenary session was called because Sunarto had been absent from his post for the past four months. The situation became more pressing last October when the city was faced with a serious problem of accumulating garbage while he was in Melbourne, Australia receiving medical treatment.
The precise nature of the medical condition affecting Sunarto, a retired member of the Army's Special Forces, is unknown. He is currently still in Melbourne undergoing intensive medical treatment.
In the end it was East Java Governor Imam Utomo who took charge of the garbage problem, conducting negotiations with Benowo and Keputih residents that led to an agreement allowing the city administration to transport garbage to dump sites in the two subdistricts.
Basuki said he had no intention of preventing the legislature from impeaching the mayor but added that the legislature should comply with the relevant regulation to prevent it from making an improper decision.
Armudji, chairman of the PDI Perjuangan faction and Sudirdjo, chairman of the joint faction, interrupted the plenary session and called on other legislators to ignore Basuki's warning but their interventions failed to gain a positive response from the floor.
"Major factions have expressed their aspirations and all legislators should ignore the chairman (Basuki)'s warning," said Armudji.
Basuki, whose PDI Perjuangan membership has already been annulled because of his close links with PDI, a rival party to PDI Perjuangan, ignored the interruption and reiterated the decision that Sunarto's fate would be determined during the legislative council's upcoming plenary session.