Residents want clean Council

Residents want clean Council

The Jakarta Post
Tangerang

Hundreds of students, workers, non-governmental organization
(NGO) activists and members of the arts community staged a rally
outside the Tangerang City Council on Tuesday, enlivening the
swearing-in ceremony of 45 new councillors.

They demanded that the new councillors work against corruption
in the council.

However, only Krisna Gunata of the Golkar Party and Moh.
Bonnie Mufidjar of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) went out to
meet the protesters and signed the "political contract".

The written statement made by the protesters required the new
councillors not to abuse their authority, to stamp out
corruption, not to be involved in money politics and not to
deceive the public.

Head of the Tangerang District Court, Zaenal Arifin, presided
over the ceremony which was tightly guarded.

Thirty-four of the councillors are new faces. Golkar and the
Democratic Party hold the largest number of seats with eight
seats respectively, while PKS have seven seats on the council.

Acting chairman Krisna Gunata said he would soon hold the
first meeting for the councillors to discuss their internal
regulations.

After the ceremony, the protesters marched to the local
prosecutor's office and urged the officers to investigate the
alleged misappropriation of Rp 1.4 billion (US$157,303) of the
2004 budget by seven former councillors.

Tangerang's NGO Forum, led by Imron Khamami, reported on July
6 to the prosecutors that the councillors used the Council's
budget to finance their traveling expenses and family receptions,
as well as to buy gifts for Idul Fitri last year.