Kampar teachers set deadline for regent's ouster
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A group of teachers representing schools in Kampar regency threatened to return to the streets on Monday unless Home Minister Hari Sabarno approved the proposed dismissal of regent Jefri Noer and his deputy A. Zakir by, at the latest, Saturday.
The teachers expressed their demand in a meeting with Riau deputy governor Wan Abu Bakar and other local officials at the gubernatorial office in Pekanbaru on Friday.
M. Idris, who led the group of teachers, said all school activities would be called to a halt on Monday. He said teachers and students would also hold a massive rally.
"The rally will be bigger than previous demonstrations but it will involve only teaching staff and students," he said.
Despite the regental legislative council's recent decision to dismiss the regent, some have rejected the decision as invalid, saying that it was the result of political engineering.
Hari has barred the regent and his deputy from making decisions on important matters while a team from the home ministry investigates the case.
The regental legislative council agreed in a plenary meeting on February 21, 2003 to dismiss the regent after a series of rallies triggered by the expulsion from a meeting of a senior high school principal who questioned the low education budget for the 2004 fiscal year. The regent's action was considered an insult to the teaching profession.
According to Law No. 22/1999 on regional autonomy, only the home minister representing the President has the authority to swear in regional heads and dismiss them.
Idris said that it was not necessary for the home minister to suspend issuing a decree on the dismissal. He said that besides political uncertainty in the regency, the people had already taken steps to replace the regent.
"If the central government is committed to restoring political stability in the regency, it should issue the decree on Saturday," he said.
He said several government offices in the town of Bangkinang in the regency, including local education and health offices, had protested Jefri's leadership by refusing to serve the public.
Deputy governor Abu Bakar, called on teachers and students to suspend the planned rally. He said it would serve no purpose and would only worsen the political situation there.
"Rest assured, the home minister will take the people's side. But it is impossible for a response to be issued tomorrow for a proposal that is submitted today. For comprehensive reasoning, maturity in decision making is needed," he said.
On Thursday, more than 100 people claiming to be religious and community leaders from Kampar met with the House of Representatives' Commission II on home affairs to protest the dismissal and warn that the issue could spark further conflicts in the regency.