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)