Rift in rectorial election continues

BOGOR: Lecturers and other employees at the Bogor Institute of Agriculture demanded on Wednesday the annulment of the result of the selection of rectorial candidates by the Academic Senate Secretariat.

Tutut Sunarminto, an assistant to the dean of the School of Forestry, said that it should be annulled as it lacked transparency, and the selection criteria for candidates was not clear.

Tutut said the rector should be elected by students and institute employees instead of the Academic Senate Secretariat.

Students and the employees had earlier elected nine rectorial candidates. The secretariat last week reduced the nine to five via a secret vote. Among the four losers was Siswadi, who had won the most ballots in the previous round.

Enraged by the result of the vote, students also condemned the process as undemocratic.--JP