Sutiyoso ready for party job

JAKARTA: Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso expressed his readiness on Tuesday to contest the leadership post of the Democratic Party, despite party statutes that may stand between him and the position.

Sutiyoso said executives of the party's Jakarta chapter and regional branches visited him and pledged their support for his nomination during its congress in Bali from Friday through Monday. It will be the party's first congress since it was founded by, among others, now President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in 2003.

"I have never aspired for such a position because I have been focusing on my current job .... But if the congress wants me to accept the mandate, then I would have to do it," the governor said on the sidelines of the opening of a fair at the Small Industry Center in Cakung, East Jakarta.

Sutiyoso said his eligibility to run for the post depended on the party's statutes.

Sutiyoso won a second five-year term as Jakarta governor with help from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). -- JP