Sutiyoso to follow PDI-P platform

Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The policy of the new gubernatorial administration in the next five years would be dominated by the political platforms of the friendly parties which elected them during the recent election, new Vice Governor Fauzi Bowo stated on Tuesday.

"Of course, the platforms of those parties who chose us will color our policies," he said after a meeting at City Hall on Tuesday.

The meeting, which was chaired by Governor Sutiyoso and attended by the city's five mayors, was the first meeting since Sutiyoso and Fauzi were inaugurated on Monday.

Fauzi's statement was in response to a question whether the administration would fulfill a request from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) for the tuition fees for some public schools to be abolished.

Sutiyoso and Fauzi, who were nominated by PDI Perjuangan, the largest faction in the city council and the Golkar Party, secured 47 of 83 votes during the election last month, which was held as a secret ballot, but accusations were made that some parties had a certain identifiable code for purposes of ascertaining which parties voted for whom.

Separately, the chairman of the city chapter of the United Development Party (PPP) Zulkarnain Ginting urged the administration to give priority to the needs of the general public as a whole, and not only their friends who voted for them.

"Even though we did not vote for them, it is their duty, as leaders, now to serve all the people in the city," councillor Zulkarnain who is also chairman of the council's commission B for economic affairs, told reporters.

PPP nominated former chairman of the City Council, Edy Waluyo, as gubernatorial candidate and PPP executive Ahmad Suady as deputy gubernatorial candidate in the election. The pair secured only 11 votes.

The meeting between was to discuss their plan to design a strategic plan for the next five years, called the Rencana Strategi (Renstra).

"We hope by next month, the Renstra will be approved by the council as a bylaw," Fauzi, German-trained engineer and former city secretary, said.

He said the strategic planning, would cover several key issues, including public services and education.

"If we do not reach the targets set out in the Renstra, our accountability speech could be rejected," he said referring to the speech that leaders throughout the country must present before their respective legislatures for approval at the end of their terms.