Sutiyoso preparing to deliver revised annual speech

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)