Padang mayor to be fired

Padang mayor to be fired

PADANG, West Sumatra: Mayor Zuiyen Rais, who has been
sentenced to 10 months in jail for fraud, will soon be dismissed
from his post, speaker of the Padang legislative council Maigus
Nasir said here on Friday.

According to Maigus, the decision to fire the mayor had been
agreed upon by all the factions on the council, and the Minister
of Home Affairs and Regional Autonomy Surjadi Soedirdja had been
consulted.

"The council is just setting the date for the plenary session
to dismiss the mayor," Maigus said.

Zuiyen was found guilty of illegally misusing a total of Rp
1.2 billion from the mayoralty budget during the 1992 and 1997
mayoralty elections. Zuiyen was victorious both times.

He told the court that the money had been used to finance the
mobilization of his supporters during the election campaigns.

He was sentenced to 10 months in jail and fined Rp 10 million
for the offense. The Supreme Court upheld the trial court's
ruling.

Maigus said that the council would summon Zuiyen and question
him about his stance concerning the Supreme Court ruling prior to
the holding of the plenary session.

Zuiyen is currently awaiting a decision from the President
after lodging an appeal for clemency. Therefore, according to his
lawyers, the final decision on their client should be taken after
the President had given his response to the appeal. (28/sur)