Mayor told to obey decision of councillors

Mayor told to obey decision of councillors

Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post, Kuningan, West Java

West Java governor Danny Setiawan urged on Saturday Cirebon mayor
Subardi and deputy mayor Agus Al Wafier, to obey a recent
decision by the Cirebon Legislative Council in which they were
prohibited from issuing strategic policies after being dismissed
from office.

"It will be better for them to obey the decision, until a team
from the Ministry of Home Affairs completes its investigation
into the case," Danny told reporters, after swearing-in Kuningan
regent and deputy regent Aang Hamid and Ason Suharso for the
2003-2008 term.

The governor's statement followed the dismissal of both the
Cirebon mayor and deputy mayor on Wednesday during a plenary
meeting at the Cirebon Legislative Council.

They were fired after the council expressed concern that they
had failed to answer some questions raised by several councillors
on several crucial matters, including incidents of alleged abuse
of power.

Besides being fired, the pair were also prohibited from
producing strategic policies, including the promotion of civil
servants, the issuing of decrees or bylaws and producing
agreements with other parties.

According to the governor, the pair had to obey the council's
decision, in order to mitigate tension in the city.

But, Danny suggested that the pair continue to work. "They
have to carry out routine duties, to make sure that public
services runs normally," Danny said without going into details.

Danny said that he would report the case immediately to the
Ministry of Home Affairs, in order for the ministry to dispatch a
team to investigate the case.

The central government has the final say in the issue.

Separately, Subardi, told reporters that he would not resign
as mayor, unless the decision by the Cirebon Legislative Council
was endorsed by the President.

"Let's wait and see. I am not a subdistrict head, who can be
easily inducted and then fired. If there is no decree from the
President to endorse the decision by the Cirebon Legislative
Council, I will remain the mayor of Cirebon," he said.

The plenary meeting last Wednesday was attended by Cirebon
Legislative Council speaker Suryana, Subardi and other officials
at the Cirebon administration.

The ouster of the pair was supported by five major factions in
the council. They were the Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle (PDI-P), the Golkar Party, the National Mandate Party,
the Justice and Unity Party and the Crescent and Star Party
factions.

The mayor was quizzed over several things, including abusing
his authority. Soenaryo, a councillor, for example, accused the
mayor of launching a reshuffle of officials at his administration
without consulting the council and the city's ranking and post
supervisory board (Baperjakat). Another councillor Enang Iman
Gana said the mayor often neglected his duties, as he was
frequently absent from the office.

Nineteen out of total 30 councillors rejected a response by
Subardi to inquiries made by the councillors. Only 11 councillors
accepted the response of the mayor.

The rejection was the second faced by the mayor, after the
legislative council rejected an accountability report by the
mayor in October. During the plenary meeting in October, 19
councillors rejected his response to an inquiry by the
councillors, nine accepted the mayor's speech and two others
abstained.

Subardi and Agus Al Wafier were elected as mayor and deputy
mayor in January last year on the PDI Perjuangan and National
Mandate Party ticket. They were installed by the West Java
governor in April 2003.