Sutiyoso to follow PDI-P platform

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.