Governor candidates present vision

Governor candidates present vision

SERANG, Banten: Some 12 pairs of candidates for the positions
of governor and vice governor of Banten province presented their
vision and mission before the provincial legislative council here
on Monday.

All candidates put emphasis on religious and educational
aspects in their development strategy in the predominantly Muslim
province.

The governor candidates were, among others, Herman Haeruman,
an expert staff member at the National Development Planning
Board, Suhaimi, a prosecutor at the Attorney General's Office and
Djoko Munandar, former mayor of Cilegon.

Herman said he wanted to free local people from poverty and
uncertainty amid the prolonged economic crisis if he won the
governor election, while Suhaimi wanted to continue developing
industry to help create more job opportunities and improve local
people's social welfare.

The meeting was disturbed by a bomb hoax, but an antiterrorist
police squad deployed to examine all rooms in the legislative
council building found no bombs.

Outside the legislative council building, hundreds of students
staged a demonstration, opposing the planned elections for
governor. The demonstrators demanded a direct election for
governor in order to avoid money politics playing a part, which
they said was still rife among members of the local elite.
-- Antara