Sutiyoso preparing to deliver revised annual speech

JAKARTA (JP): As a consequence of the City Council's rejection of his annual accountability speech on Thursday, Governor Sutiyoso said on Friday he would continue running the administration while preparing a redrafted speech next month.

City councillors voted on Thursday to reject the governor's accountability speech by 68 votes against and 16 in favor.

"It's O.K. by me if the councillors want to remove me from the governorship as long as it as long as they act objectively and reasonably," Sutiyoso told reporters at City Hall.

"The problem is whether my successor will be able to overcome all problems facing us at present or not. The new governor will first have to adapt to his or her new position before taking any action," he said.

Sutiyoso denied allegations that some of his officials bribed councillors to secure their approval for his accountability speech.

Rumors were rife that some councillors of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) faction and the United Development Party (PPP) faction went against their factions' stance to reject the speech.

"I don't need such maneuvers to get the councillors' approval because all I require is my own hard work and a good performance," he said.

"Bribing the councillors would mean that I don't respect them or myself," he said.

The governor also asked city councillors to be objective in assessing his revised speech, which is to be delivered next month.

Most factions on the City Council concluded that the governor didn't provide adequate answers to their questions and used this as the grounds for rejecting Sutiyoso's speech.

"I have reviewed all my answers and it seems to me that I answered most of their questions. It's likely that they didn't read my answers carefully," he said.

"My answers were not very detailed as I provided detailed information in a separate addendum to my speech. I wonder whether the councillors had read the addendum or not," he added.

The governor said he would change the mechanism for his revised speech.

"I'll provide a separate addendum for each faction so it will be easier for them to look up the answers," he said.

Tired

Sutiyoso stressed that he appreciated the objective assessment made by city councillors and would improve his performance, especially as regards issues concerning corruption and irregularities.

"But, every time I tried to explain these matters, the councillors always thought that I was only defending myself and that I was doing nothing to stop such practices," he said.

"It's impossible to stop these irregularities in a single day. Besides, we have to have sufficient evidence before imposing punishment," he added.

Most councillors criticized the administration for only imposing administrative sanctions on guilty employees, instead of submitting the relevant dossiers to the police or the prosecutor's office.

"Administrative sanctions have a psychological effect on a defendant's friends and subordinates. It's bad for their career," said Sutiyoso in defense.

"Besides, the police or prosecutor's office will only return the dossiers to us to be completed, but without solid proof. That's why we're very careful in investigating such cases," he added.

Earlier in the morning, Chief Inspector of City Administration Hendarmin Ono Saleh said his inspectorate had made all efforts to eradicate irregularities from the administration.

"We have investigated numerous cases of irregularities but we must find solid evidence before declaring that someone is guilty or innocent in such cases," he told The Jakarta Post.

"However, we also can't interfere with the legal process in the prosecutor's office or before the court," he added.

"We can't do that because both institutions are part of our legal system, and are separate from the executive," he said. (nvn)