Residents of West Java divided by question of next governor
The Jakarta Post, Cirebon/Bandung
The people of West Java are divided over who should lead the province for the 2003-2008 period. Residents in the Pasundan area want the next governor to be Sundanese, while non-Sundanese residents in the northern part of the province want the next governor to come from their region.
Gandjar Kurni, an influential figure in Bandung, capital of West Java, said during a seminar in the city on Saturday that whoever replaces outgoing Governor Nuriana should be Sundanese. He said this would help him or her win the support of the majority of residents and secure their backing for his or her development programs.
He added that it would be strange if the next governor was not Sundanese.
Popong Otje Djundjunan, wife of former Bandung mayor Djundjunan, agreed, adding that the next governor should also be intellectual and religious.
Popong, one of 106 people who registered their candidacy with the gubernatorial election committee, said she was not necessarily referring to herself, but that these attributes were necessary for the next governor.
Iwan Hendrawan, chairman of the Association of Regency Legislatures, criticized those people demanding a Sundanese governor, saying the province was home to numerous other ethnic groups besides Sundanese.
"The province will certainly be divided into at least two provinces if the gubernatorial candidates use this divisive issue to win the gubernatorial election," he said.
Meanwhile, Suryana, chairman of the Cirebon branch of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), said the party's branches in Karawang, Bekasi, Indramayu, Cirebon, Kuningan and Majalengka supported the decision of the party's executive board to name Rudi Harsya Tanaya, chairman of PDI Perjuangan's West Java chapter, as its gubernatorial candidate.
Meanwhile, a number of other political parties have named several different Army generals as gubernatorial candidates. They include Maj. Gen. (ret) Tayo Tarmadi, the former chief of the Siliwangi Military Command, and Maj. Gen. Sudradjat, the director general for defense strategy affairs at the defense ministry.