Legislators abducted over election

Legislators abducted over election

MATARAM, West Nusa Tenggara: Around 300 people on Saturday
dragged 11 councilors out of a session of the West Lombok
legislative council and forced them to deliver to Governor Harun
Al Rasjid their objection to the government's list of candidates
for regent.

Witnesses described how the mob roughly forced the councilors
to leave, bundled them into a number of cars and took them to
meet Harun.

Antara reported the angry group made the councilors relate to
the governor their rejection of Iskandar, Kusnandar Angrat and
Puguh Wirebhakti whom Minister of Home Affairs Syarwan Hamid
picked from an earlier list of five candidates. The other two
were Koeshardi Angrat and Anggawa Nuraksi.

The two Angrats are siblings, but the crowd were said to be
supporters of Koeshardi.

The legislators were in the building for a dress rehearsal for
the election of a new regent to replace Mudjitahid.

Some of the councilors, including Yahya Mustafa of Indonesian
Democratic Party (PDI), were also against the three candidates.

In the "shotgun meeting" with the governor, the kidnapped
councilors put across the mob's grievances.

The governor promised to deliver their message to Minister
Syarwan. (25/swe)