Suwarna reelected as E. Kalimantan governor

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The East Kalimantan legislative council reelected on Monday governor H. Suwarna and his deputy AF Yurnalis Ngayoh for another five years.

Unlike other recent provincial elections which have been marred by problems, the council voted the pair in with a majority 24 out of 44 votes in an uneventful election.

Rival candidate pairs Awang Faroek and Abd Thalib came in second with 13 votes, and Imam Munjiad and Sarkawi were third with seven votes, Antara reported.

The three-hour long election began at 10 a.m. with a 30 minute suspension, as councillors debated whether or not they could carry cellular phones into the voting booth. They eventually decided to leave all cellular phones, wallets and loose items like papers outside the booth.

In front of the legislative complex, some 8,000 supporters of the three candidate pairs rallied under tight security. The supporters dispersed peacefully following the announcement of the election results.

Suwarna and Yurnalis were appointed as East Kalimantan governor and deputy governor in 1998. Monday's election marked the first time that the provincial council elected their own governor.

Under the 2001 Autonomy Law, Jakarta has empowered provincial and regental councils to select their own leaders. The central government only approves the election after it has been endorsed by the council.

Surwana and Yurnalis, however, must first pass a three-day period of public scrutiny before the council can endorse their election.

The council can annul the results if the public finds fault in the election process or with the winners' past performance.

Rival Awang is the former regent of the natural resource-rich East Kuta regency who resigned to run in the gubernatorial race.

Government officials must abandon their posts if they decide to run for the governorship as required under Law No. 22/1999 on regional government.

His running mate Abdul owns an electronic appliance business in the East Kalimantan provincial capital Samarinda and is a respected figure at the East Kalimantan branch of the National Mandate Party (PAN).

The pair of Iman and Sarkawie are members of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and PAN respectively.