Pressure mounts to oust Flores regent

Pressure mounts to oust Flores regent

Yemris Fointuna, The Jakarta Post, Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara

The East Flores branch of the Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) demanded on Friday that the regency
legislative council convene a plenary meeting immediately to oust
regent Felix Fernandez from office.

The demand followed growing calls from the public urging the
regent to resign, after recent arson attacks on a courthouse and
the prosecutor's office in the East Flores regency capital of
Larantuka.

The demand on Friday was communicated through a letter signed
by the chairman and the deputy chairman of PDI Perjuangan's East
Flores branch, Michael Betawi and Michael L. Sogen.

"The regent has failed to meet people's aspirations," the
letter read, outlining why the regency council had to convene a
meeting to oust the regent.

In the statement, the two leaders also instructed the party's
councillors on the council to mobilize political support from
other factions in order to impeach the regent.

PDI Perjuangan faction is the biggest faction in the regency
council. It has 22 out of total 30 seats in the council, while
the remaining seats belonging to Golkar Party with four, the
United Development Party, one and the Catholic Democratic Party
(PKD), three.

Golkar and PPP made no comment on the matter, but PKD sided
with the growing movement against the regent and the regency
government.

Following the arson attacks, the PKD executive board decided
it would recall cadre Anton Mado Tupen from his current position
as speaker of the East Flores Regency Council over his failure to
act in the people's best interests.

The attacks have also drawn concern from local religious
leaders, in the predominantly Catholic East Flores.

The arson attacks occurred minutes after a panel of judges
sentenced local Catholic priest Frans Amanuen to two months in
prison, with a probation period of five months.

The sentence has garnered increasing support and sympathy for
the priest, who has consistently criticized the regent for
alleged graft. At the same time, the sentence sharply reduced the
popularity of the regent among the local people.

There has been growing demands for the regent to provide
clarification over an alleged mark up in the purchase of a multi-
purpose boat for local government amounting to Rp 3 billion
(US$352,941), among other projects. The regent has been held
responsible for the riot in Larantuka, due to the alleged graft.

But, on a separate occasion on Friday, Regent Felix claimed
all accusations against him were baseless.

"I cannot be held responsible for the riot because it was the
masses that instigated the riot, not me. It is part of a scheme
to drag me out of office," he told reporters.

Meanwhile, the Larantuka diocese expressed its support for
Frans Amanuen, saying that the sentence had offended people's
sense of justice.

The official statement, signed by the Diocese's secretary
Father Koes Aliandu, demanded that the accusations of graft
committed by the regent be investigated.

"The cause of the riot was the alleged graft committed by the
regent, which has never been investigated," it said.