'I am disappointed by Sutiyoso's reelection'

Governor Sutiyoso's reelection has sparked public controversy due to his unfavorable track record during his tenure. The Jakarta Post talked to some people on the street to find out what they thought about Sutiyoso.

Paulus, 16, a second grader vocational school student at a noted private school in Pulo Raya, South Jakarta. He lives with his family in Ciledug, South Jakarta:

I'm disappointed that Sutiyoso was reelected. His unfavorable track record in the July 27 tragedy still made the public distrust his reputation.

With such an unaccountable figure, what could we expect from him in the next gubernatorial term?

It seems that his policies do not touch the hearts of every Jakartan. Therefore, I hesitate that he should have stronger commitments and better actions to improve the city's conditions.

In his term as governor, he could not minimize the street crimes, the slums and other social problems. He might be capable but he fails to take real action to solve the problems.

But if I disagree, will it change anything?

Abdul Cholil, a vendor who sells watches at a market in Taman Puring, South Jakarta, where he and many other vendors do business, was gutted by fire in June 2002. The city administration is reconstructing it, despite the fact that Taman Puring is part of the city's green area. Cholil lives in Kebayoran Baru. He visits his wife and children in Cirebon, West Java, every month:

I don't have any comments on politics including the issue on the reelection of Sutiyoso.

As a matter of fact he is good leader. Well, at least that's what I've seen so far. It is him who ordered the reconstruction of the market here following the fire.

But, personally if I were to choose, I would never side with a person like him. He won the election because he has power and money to buy friends.

I don't think he could win if people like us have the right to vote in the election. He won because of his colleagues' votes.

However, I am not really concerned about it. Whoever leads the city is not important. The most important thing is that we can survive.

Sutisna, a taxi driver for seven years. He resides in Cilangkap, East Jakarta:

I don't have any comments on Sutiyoso's reelection because I don't really follow politics. But I think he should not have renominated himself in the first place.

It would be much better if he had passed the governorship to somebody else. It's not good if you hold an important position for too long.

Sutiyoso was just doing OK in the past five years, not a bad performance but not exemplary also.

One of his success stories is that he managed to create more traffic jams. Look on the streets, the traffic is jammed everywhere as more and more new cars ply the streets.

Purnomo, a taxi driver. He resides in Ciputat, South Jakarta with his family:

I don't know how to judge Sutiyoso as he had his good and bad points during his term.

His good points, among other things, is that development went smoothly. Look at all the new buildings over the city. You would not think that several years ago parts of the city were ruined during the 1998 mass riots.

Sutiyoso managed to lead the city reconstruction during the hard times. Well, most of the buildings are privately-owned.

His biggest success is the closure of the Kramat Tunggak brothel in North Jakarta. No other governor dared to do such a thing.

Sutiyoso, however, failed to properly manage the big floods earlier this year. Indeed it was a natural disaster but the response was very bad. Most of the relief came too late.

Not to mention that he gave many new taxi licenses. Nowadays, our lives are already poor. The presence of new taxis in great numbers may become a threat to our income.