Surabaya legislators deride team on Sunarto dismissal

Ainur R. Sophiaan, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya

Legislators in the East Java capital of Surabaya have criticized as useless a central government plan to investigate whether the dismissal of Surabaya's mayor Sunarto Sumoprawiro was legal or not.

They said whatever recommendation was issued by the inquiry team, it would not affect the Surabaya district legislature's decision to sack Sunarto.

"Our decision is final and the team is nothing significant," Armudji, chairman of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI Perjuangan) faction in the legislative council, told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

He said the team's establishment was contrary to law No. 22/1999 on regional governance, under which the central government had to endorse any decision by the regency or provincial legislature (DPRD).

Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno last week said he would form an independent team to assess the validity of Sunarto's dismissal.

He has rejected the sacking of Sunarto and instead still recognizes him as the legitimate mayor of Indonesia's second largest city.

He said that regional legislative councils had no right to remove governors, mayors or regents, saying the DPRD should have proposed its decision to the president for endorsement. It was not legal otherwise, he said.

Ryaas Rasyid, a former administrative reforms minister, challenged Hari's arguments and said a DPRD, by law, could remove a mayor for substantial reasons, including a serious illness or mental disorder and oath of duty violation.

The president must accept the removal of Sunarto as the law did not suggest that the head of state could reject any decision by the DPRD, he said.

Sunarto was sacked after being absent from office for three months. He claimed to have obtained permission from the home minister to abandon state duties for medical treatment in Melbourne, Australia.

Surabaya DPRD speaker Herman Rivai said the planned independent team would only waste its time and money and prolong the dispute.

The plan showed that the central government was not ready for reforms in relation to the implementation of regional autonomy laws, he said.

"The sacking of Sunarto was not a hasty decision. We invited political scientists and constitutional law experts to discuss this issue," Herman said.

Noted constitutional law expert Suwoto Mulyosudarmo said the team would be useless because the Surabaya DPRD would stick with its decision despite a possible contradicting recommendation.

"Under the president's approval, the home affairs minister can investigate the case using his staff in Jakarta and Surabaya. But it is not meant to veto the decision by the council," he said.

"The best way for the home minister is to directly present the report on Sunarto's removal to the president for endorsement because the decision has met the required procedures," added Suwoto from the Surabaya-based Erlangga University.

Meanwhile, Musyafak Rauf, a senior legislator of the National Awakening Party (PKB) that opposed Sunarto's dismissal, said his faction supported the establishment of the team. It would help resolve the problem, he added.

He said the PKB had told the council to be careful when it came to a decision to remove Sunarto because the move could set a bad precedence for future political stability.