Protest marks swearing-in of councillors
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
The swearing-in ceremony of 75 city councillors on Wednesday was marred by a rally, involving some 1,000 people, in front of the City Council on Jl. Kebon Sirih, Central Jakarta.
The protesters demanded the new councillors act to prevent collusion, corruption and nepotism (KKN) practices in the council.
Head of the Jakarta High Court Arifin A Tumpal, presided over the ceremony, which was tightly guarded by police officers and security guards.
Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso read the speech of Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno, who was absent from the occasion.
About 80 percent of the councillors are new faces. The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), Democratic Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) are assuming the majority of seats, with 18, 16 and 11 seats respectively.
Councillor Dani Anwar of the PKS was appointed as acting chairman. He will lead a meeting on Aug. 29 to discuss internal regulations for new councillors.
Protesters from non-governmental organizations and party- affiliated groups called for clean governance. In a symbolic gesture, they even handed the councillors a dustpan and broom.
"New councillors must not be involved in collusion, corruption and nepotism practices," yelled Wardah Hafidz of the Urban Poor Consortium (UPC).
Most new councillors vowed to avoid those practices.
"We will make significant changes, including to get rid of red tape. Hopefully, these new faces will bring about a change for the better," said Ahmad Alaydrus of the Democratic Party.
The call for clean governance has grown stronger with alleged violations that involve several councillors and former councilors.
Mustaman and Sumiati Soekarno of the PDI-P, and Abdullah Prawiradirja of the United Development Party (PPP) were reported to the police for document forgery and vote-buying respectively.
The three still held their positions when the Jakarta Police ceased to investigate their cases, citing insufficient evidence as the reason.
"We discontinued the investigation as we are certain there has been no crime. However, those who object can file for a pre-trial lawsuit," said Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Firman Gani.
Firman said that, so far, the police had not received any formal objections to the acquittals.
The police have also been investigating a fraud accusation against former City Council chairman Agung Imam Sumanto.
A businesswoman, identified only as Et, had earlier reported Agung to the police. She claimed he had promised to arrange operational permits for public buses that she manages, but had not held up his side of the bargain. Et and her three business partners had submitted a total of Rp 1 billion (US$108,695) to Agung.
"We have questioned some witnesses and we are evaluating the results of that questioning. But, we will summon him (Agung) soon," Firman said.
Agung denied the allegation. "That's a lie. That's not true," he said after the swearing-in ceremony.