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.