Government regulation saves Surabaya mayor

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.