Minister to appoint acting Sampang regent

JAKARTA (JP): The central government has decided to end the ongoing rift over the newly elected regent of Sampang in Madura island off East Java and appoint a caretaker while mediation activities are underway.

Minister of Home Affairs and Regional Autonomy Lt. Gen. (ret) Surjadi Soedirdja said on Tuesday he would appoint an acting regent for Sampang regency if the two warring groups could not settle their problem themselves.

"I will install an acting regent for Sampang. I'm now waiting for a report on the dispute from the East Java governor (Imam Utomo)," Surjadi told reporters on the sidelines of a hearing at the House of Representatives.

He said he had suggested that the two groups consider two alternative solutions to the problem surrounding the reelection of regent Fadhilah Budiono.

He proposed that Fadhilah should first be installed before the legal process into the ongoing rift got underway, while secondly, the elected regent should be investigated before being installed.

"But it seems that the two warring groups could not accept the alternatives," Surjadi, a former Jakarta governor, said.

The minister considered the reelection of Fadhilah valid although one of the 23 Sampang councilors who had voted for the police officer resigned before the election was conducted in July.

"The councilor has resigned but his successor has yet to be inducted. So, he (the resigned councilor) still has the right to vote," he said, without mentioning the name of the resigned councilor.

Mobs set the Sampang Council building on fire last Wednesday to protest the reelection of Fadhilah, who is a police colonel.

Supported by the United Development Party (PPP) and the Indonesian Military (TNI)/National Police factions, Fadhilah secured 23 votes of a total 45 councilors to be reelected Sampang regent for a second consecutive term. He defeated the National Awakening Party (PKB) candidate by just one ballot.

PKB is the largest faction in the local council with 18 seats, while PPP is the second with 12 seats.

Besides questioning the validity of Fadhilah's vote, PKB also accused the elected regent of having been involved in a swindle over rice aid for Madurese refugees, who were the victims of riots in West Kalimantan in 1998. (jun)