PDI-P boycotts Council meetings

PDI-P boycotts Council meetings

BOGOR: The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P)
faction has boycotted the Bogor Council's plenary session to
revise the budget on Saturday, in protest over the detention of
deputy mayor M. Sahid, who has been made a suspect in a graft
case.

The only PDI-p faction member to attend the meeting was Lismo
Handoko, who is a deputy speaker at council.

The seven other members of PDI-P were absent, in addition to a
member of the Prosperous Peace Party (PDS) who joined the boycott
in solidarity.

Factional deliberations into the budget revisions was handed
by another PDS member, Tendi Irianto, with the Council speaker
Tatang Muchtar. The latter decided to continue the meeting as a
quorum had been reached.

Sahid, a PDI-P member, is alleged to have misused his
authority as Council speaker during period 1999-2004, causing the
municipality to lose some Rp 6 billion (US$666,670). -- JP