Independent municipal councils urged
Independent municipal councils urged
JAKARTA (JP): A team from the City Council working on the
establishment of municipal councils suggested on Monday that
military members and civil servants who are elected to the
councils be required to leave their old jobs.
The head of the team, Syarifien Maloko, said if municipal
council members also held posts in the military or civil service
it would restrict their independence in carrying out their
council duties.
"A policy on this issue will be put in the draft of the city
bylaw on municipal councils and will refer to a higher
regulation," Syarifien said during a plenary session of the City
Council.
He was responding to objections from five factions in the City
Council -- the Indonesian Military/National Police, the United
Development Party, the Golkar Party, the National Mandate Party
and the Crescent Star Party -- which were raised at a plenary
session held last week.
These factions fear that elected municipal council members
would not be able to remain neutral if they still held their
positions in the military and the government.
"We asked the city administration to reconsider the issue,"
said Sudahlan, who is from the Indonesian Military/National
Police faction.
Municipal councils are meant to empower people at the
mayoralty level to participate in the development of their
communities, as well as to control the activities of their
mayoralty administrations.
The councils, which will function as consultants to the
mayors, will be made up of one representative from each district
in a mayoralty. Generally, each mayoralty in the city oversees
eight districts. Jakarta has a total of 43 districts.
Separately, Syamsuardi Botan of the National Mandate Party
faction, said each municipal council member would receive Rp 1
million (US$105) per month as "honorary remuneration".
"The money is a reward to the council members and a monitoring
tool to control the performance of the municipal councils,
regardless of the amount of money itself," he said.
When asked about the possibility that the money would be the
main reason residents would seek election to the councils,
Syamsuardi acknowledged that this could happen.
"We realize that the selection of the municipal and district
councils might lead to conflicts (of interests) among residents.
However, every plan has its obstacles and risks. We will proceed
with the draft first (of the bylaw on the councils) and listen to
every criticism and suggestion," said Syamsuardi, who is also a
member of team working to establish the councils. (07/04)