Seven councillors yet to report wealth
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Chairman of the Jakarta Provincial General Elections Commission (KPUD Jakarta) Muhamad Taufik has called on seven councillors- elect to submit their wealth reports ahead of the swearing-in ceremony on Aug. 25 at City Hall.
Speaking for the first time to a gathering of the 75 councillors elected on April 5, Taufik called on the seven by name: Sahrianta Tarigan of the Prosperous Peace Party (PDS); Lilik Sholihah, Hidayat Rohim and Nurjanah Lubis of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS); Maria Hennie Longkeng of the Democratic Party; and Martin Octavianus Makatia and Enggard Joshua of the Golkar Party.
He also made a separate call to other councillors: "We will give you a chance to make corrections to your wealth reports. One of you reported only Rp 4 million (US$435)."
Taufik said if councillors submitted inaccurate documents on their wealth, they might face a corruption charge if their wealth proved to have amassed significantly.
The KPUD Jakarta issued a complete list of councillors' wealth, according to which the poorest is Achmad Suaidy of the United Development Party (PPP) with only Rp 4 million, and the richest is Ade Surapriatna of Golkar with Rp 5.79 billion.
Achmad, however, denied the accuracy of the list: "I submitted the correct figure of my wealth. I stated I have Rp 5.7 billion. I don't know how the KPUD list came up with only Rp 4 million."
As for the councillors' educational background, seven have Masters degrees, eight have a Bachelors, 45 are junior college graduates and only 15 are high school graduates. The General Elections Law stipulates that a councillor must have at least graduated high school.
Only 13 of the 75 councillors-elect are old faces, since the PDI-P and PAN, which dominated the previous council, lost significant seats: PDI-P's representation shrank from 30 seats to 11 and PAN, 13 to six.
Dani Anwar from the PKS has been appointed interim chairman, as his party garnered majority votes in April and holds 18 seats.
The upstart Democratic Party has 16 seats, followed by the PDI-P, then the Golkar Party and the PPP with seven each, PAN with six, the National Awakening Party (PKB) and PDS with four each and the Reform Star Party (PBR) with two.
In regards reports received by police that two councillors had submitted fake diplomas, Taufik said they would not affect the installment ceremony because the Constitutional Court had not issued any rulings on the matter.
He added that, unlike the departing council members, the new councillors would not be provided new clothing from the Jakarta administration. The previous council's allocation of a wardrobe budget had caused a public outcry.