Suwarna reelected as E. Kalimantan governor

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.