Tarmidi must go, says party

Tarmidi must go, says party

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan)
faction at the City Council urged its councillor Tarmidi Suhardjo
on Friday to resign from his post as the council's deputy
chairman.

"We urged Tarmidi to resign," the faction's deputy chairman
Lambertus Gainadara told reporters after attending a council
plenary session.

The session discussed a letter from Minister of Home Affairs
Hari Sabarno who refused to replace Tarmidi as the deputy
chairman.

According to the letter, Tarmidi, who is still a member of PDI
Perjuangan, cannot be replaced as he is still alive and has not
resigned.

The faction earlier proposed that Tarmidi be replaced by
councillor Agung Imam Sumanto.

The party's central board had earlier dismissed Tarmidi from
his post as the party's city chapter chairman for ignoring party
instructions during the recent gubernatorial election.

The party supported the reelection of Governor Sutiyoso while
Tarmidi, who was supported by the party's branches, nominated
himself as a gubernatorial candidate.

Tarmidi had earlier accepted his dismissal as the party's city
chapter chairman but refused to resign from his post as the
council's deputy chairman.

Friday's session gave the party's faction a week to solve this
internal problem.

"Whether the problem is solved or not, we should conduct an
election for the council's chairman before Idul Fitri," the
council's other deputy chairman, Chudlory Syafei Hadzami, said.