Governor's election

Governor's election

From Warta Kota

Within a few days, Jakarta city councillors will discuss and determine the rules of conduct and the requirements (tatib) for the election of the governor and deputy governor of Jakarta for the 2002 to 2007 period. The draft of these rules is now circulating in public.

In order to ensure a transparent discussion on tatib while observing morality and ethics, I would like to appeal to the following groups:

* The mass media: Both the print and electronic media should cover and spotlight the discussion, so that the public can criticize this process.

* The public of Jakarta: The time has come for us as Jakarta citizens to voice aspirations through our representatives in the city legislature. If the councillors ignore our input, we should no longer vote for their political parties in 2004.

* The Jakarta councillors: The public input on tatib should be taken into account. To this end, the councillors should not formulate tatib that cause difficulty to citizens wishing to become candidates for the posts, tatib should be clearly specified to avoid ambiguity over criteria for candidates, and in discussion the councillors should use their conscience to serve the public interest, instead of their own groups' pragmatic interests.

TAUFIK ZAHRONY

Jakarta