Suspension proposal illegal, Governor says
Suspension proposal illegal, Governor says
Rusman, The Jakarta Post, Samarinda
East Kalimantan Governor Suwarna Abdul Fatah has demanded that
the provincial council revoke its decision to file a motion
requesting his suspension for alleged graft with the President.
Through his lawyer Arteria Dahlan the governor has also
requested that the council's ethics committee determine whether
the council's decision breached its code of ethics.
The lawyer said letters would be sent to the relevant parties
and he hoped the matter would be sorted out immediately.
"Needless to say, we demand the governor's good name be
reinstated," said Dahlan.
He said, besides sending letters to the councillors, the
governor would also ask President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and
home affairs minister M. Ma'ruf to ignore the suspension request
as it violated the law.
The law on regional administration states that a governor can
only be suspended if the council's plenary meeting is attended by
over three quarters of the councillors.
However, the plenary meeting on Monday was only attended by 33
councillors, or less than three quarters of the East Kalimantan
councillors. "The proposal was unlawful as was the decision. The
governor will not step down but will work as usual," said Dahlan.
Dahlan said the motion to unseat the governor was premature as
the governor had not been named a suspect, let alone been found
guilty of embezzlement.
The case centers on the governor's decision to exempt a large
plantation company from paying regreening fees to the government.
It was later found the company had failed to regreen several of
its designated operational areas.
With the surfacing of the case ammunition was provided for the
governor's rivals to criticize him for exempting the company from
paying regreening fees.
The public criticism brought about the Corruption Eradication
Commission's (KPK) questioning of the governor in late October,
which in turn led to rallies demanding the governor's
resignation.
The series of protests prompted the East Kalimantan council to
file the motion for the governor's suspension.
The proposal was supported by four of the six factions in the
council, including the Golkar faction, which had earlier
supported Suwarna, including in the 2003 election for governor.
The council had also decided to dismiss its secretary Syaiful
Teteng. But the senior government official fought back.
He argued his post was a career post and not a political post
like the governor's, so the councillors had no right to dismiss
him. He said the only party that could fire him was the
government and not the councillors.
Meanwhile, conditions in the East Kalimantan capital of
returned to normal on Tuesday after noisy street protests over
the past few days. However, the governor's office and the council
building were guarded by police on Tuesday.