Public urged to give input on next governor

JAKARTA (JP): The Jakarta City Council urged the public yesterday to give input to the selection of candidates for the next governor.

Council speaker M.H. Ritonga said that Jakartans could propose candidates to the council through its factions or directly to him.

"We will wait for names of proposed candidates until June 20," Ritonga told a press conference.

He said that any proposed candidate should meet all requirements set by the Ministry of Home Affairs before they could be nominated for governor of Jakarta.

"So far, no candidates have been proposed," Ritonga said. "The number of nominations should be, at the most, between three and five," he added.

When asked whether the next governor should be from the Armed Forces (ABRI), he said, "it doesn't matter if the next governor is from the military or not, as long as he or she fulfills requirements."

Ritonga said that public participation in selecting governor candidates was necessary due to the important role of the provincial leader. "As provincial leader, the governor should be supported by his people," he said.

Before handing the candidate list to the President for approval, the council will consult with the Minister of Home Affairs, Ritonga said.

In response to whether or not incumbent Governor Surjadi Soedirdja could be re-elected, Ritonga did not reject such a possibility.

"In my personal opinion, Governor Surjadi has the right to be re-elected," Ritonga said.

A 1974 government regulation stipulates that a governor may serve a second five-year term.

Surjadi, whose term of office ends Oct. 6, already filed a letter of resignation to President Soeharto through Minister of Home Affairs Moch. Yogie S.M. in March.

Basic requirements for Jakarta governor include, among other things, loyalty to both the state ideology Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution, loyalty to the country and the government and never being directly or indirectly involved in activities which endanger the country, Pancasila or the 1945 Constitution.

The candidates should also be dedicated persons, have good personality and leadership, be honest, intelligent, of good integrity, must be at least 35 years of age, have adequate ability and experience in administrative affairs and should be at least university graduates.

Ritonga said that proposed candidates would be selected and nominated by current City Council members, whose office terms end July 18, and be continued by new council members, results of last week's general election.

News reports had named several candidates, including Surjadi himself. Other candidates were Chief of Jakarta Military Command Maj. Gen. Sutiyoso, and former chief of Jakarta Military Command Lt. Gen. A.M. Hendropriyono, the current Secretary of Development Operations.

When asked about the next council speaker, Ritonga said the new speaker would be elected by the new City Council.

"The candidates would be selected from the 75 new City Council members and would not necessarily be from the Armed Forces (ABRI)," he said.

In response to whether or not the new speaker would be Tadjus Sobirin, chairman of Golkar's city chapter, Ritonga just said that the speaker would be decided by the new council members.

"The choice of new speaker is not based on which contestant won this year's election," Ritonga said.

In this year's election, the three contestants vied for 60 of 75 City Council seats. The remaining 15 seats were reserved for ABRI members who do not vote.

Golkar now has 31 council seats, the United Development Party (PPP) 15, the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) 14, and ABRI 15. (ste)