Kutai Kartanegara to have new regent

KUTAI KARTANEGARA, East Kalimantan: Pair Syaukani and Syamsuri, who won the Kutai Kartanegara regental election, are slated to be installed on Wednesday here. The inauguration ceremony will be tightly guarded by police personnel as the ceremony will be attended by some 6,000 officials from both the central and local government. The tight security measure was also necessary because the vote counting was marred by public protests over alleged poll fraud.

The pair will be the first regent and deputy regent officially installed following the direct regional elections in the country. The direct election in Kutai Kartanegara, which took place on June 1, was the first direct election in the country's history.

Adj. Sr. Comr. Supriyanto said on Tuesday that the Kutai police would deploy some 1,420 personnel to safeguard the ceremony. -- JP