S. Kalimantan governor fends off bribery charges
S. Kalimantan governor fends off bribery charges
Yuliansyah, The Jakarta Post, Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan
South Kalimantan Governor Sjachrial Darham on Tuesday rejected
claims that he had bribed Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno
in order to retain his governorship after the local council
dismissed him last year.
Last week provincial legislative head Mansyah Add accused
Sjachrial of granting minister Hari 5,000 hectares of coal mining
concessions to cancel the council's move to oust him.
Sjachrial denied this, saying the allegation was unfounded.
He described Mansyah's statement as "sick" and said he may
report the accusations to the minister himself.
Sjachrial said he might consider suing the council head, and
argued that such allegations could tantamount to treachery.
But Mansyah's statement was enough to kick start a police
investigation.
Local police chief Brig. Gen. Dody Sumantyawan said he would
at least seek to clarify the charges by asking Sjachrial.
"We will move cautiously and won't respond emotionally," he
said.
Intelligence assistant at the province's prosecutors' office
Muchjar Sjaifullah signaled support for an investigation.
"The statement by the South Kalimantan council head Mansyah
Add could be a starting point for prosecutors to investigate,"
Muchjar said, but added his office had not decided to act yet.
The bribery charge is the latest in a year-long row between
the governor and the council in one of Indonesia's most natural-
resource rich provinces.
Tension between the provincial branch of the executive and the
legislature have emerged in a number of regions since Indonesia
adopted autonomy laws in 2001.
Decentralization gave councillors free reign over the election
of governors, but first must obtain Jakarta's approval to appoint
or dismiss them.
South Kalimantan councillors impeached governor Sjachrial on
August last year for incompetence and suspicion he was corrupt.
Jakarta blocked the move, when minister Hari issued a decree
calling the impeachment illegitimate.
At the council, factions look set to decide whether or not to
discuss Sjachrial's accountability speech over the use of the
2002 budget. The speech is slated for this week.
The Golkar, the Justice Mandate, and the Awakening, Justice
and National Unity factions, would skip the accountability speech
of the governor who they decided to dismiss last year.
The Indonesian Democratic Party for Struggle and the Unity and
People's Sovereignty factions remain undecided. They were among
the factions that had ruled for the governor's ouster.
Facing councilors' rejection, Sjachrial threatened "those who
don't join the discussion must return their salaries and their
allowances."