Letter to Betawi society
Letter to Betawi society
From Bisnis Indonesia
The argument that the next governor of Jakarta should come
from the native people (Betawi) has become a daily topic among
Betawi people. Even the Betawi Consultative Body (Bamus Betawi)
as the parent body of Betawi society, through its conference held
some time ago, has firmly recommended that the next governor of
Jakarta should hail from the Betawi society.
Yet, the political fight of the Betawi society will apparently
meet many obstacles due to the following reasons.
1. Factually, governor Sutiyoso (who is ethnically Javanese and
born in Central Java) still has ambition to become the Jakarta
governor for the period between 2002 and 2007 even though he has
stated that he doesn't aspire to hold the position for a second
term.
It appears that Sutiyoso seems willing to do anything to
rescue his post. For example, he has done some odd political
actions such as allegedly inundating certain city residents with
money wrapped in the forms of flood assistance funds, playing one
group against another, funding certain social elements to attack
other elements of society. He has even made use of an element of
Betawi society as a shield for his power.
2. The fact has shown that Betawi society is now being divided
and stirred so its potential forces become weak and easily
politicized.
On the one hand a group of Betawi people demands that the next
governor be a native Betawi, but on the other hand, another group
strongly gives support to the incumbent governor Sutiyoso.
Betawi people and their Consultative Body should realize and
be alert that conditions referred to above are parts of a
political scenario in efforts to prevent Betawi residents from
becoming the Jakarta governor.
3. The real political forces of Betawi people in the city council
are not significant. They are only a minority of the 85 members
of the City Council.
4. The political struggle of Betawi society to win the Jakarta
governor position is still a hard battle. Moreover, the condition
of the Betawi Consultative Body seems to be less accommodating
toward its own members and also less solid. This means that the
Betawi society and its Consultative Body should be prepared to
have an outsider as Jakarta governor.
ANAS MA'RUF
Coordinator of
Betawi Students
Communications
Forum Presidium
Jakarta