Tension continues in Kampar, nine arrested
Tension continues in Kampar, nine arrested
Haidir Anwar Tanjung, The Jakarta Post, Pekanbaru, Riau
Hundreds of civil servants staged a rally in the town of
Bangkinang in Kampar regency on Tuesday to express their lack of
confidence in regent Jefri Noer and his deputy A. Zakir. The
regency council had recommended that the central government
dismiss the two over the weekend.
Meanwhile, school activities in the province have returned to
normal after thousands of teachers and students took to the
streets for two weeks to demand the dismissal of the regent.
Many government offices were also closed on Tuesday due to the
protest.
Chief of the local education office Basrun confirmed that all
teachers and students who had participated in the rally last week
had resumed regular classes.
He explained that civil servant participating in the rally
were demanding that the council's decision be upheld and urged
President Megawati Soekarnoputri to dismiss the regency's top
officials.
He added that no teachers had participated in the rally.
After two weeks with no classes, teachers and students
returned to schools in the regency on Tuesday.
"All schools that deployed their students and teachers to the
recent rally will be asked to supplement teaching hours to reach
the target set in the curriculum," he said.
The council had dismissed Jefri and Zakir in a plenary session
on Saturday due to what students and teachers had called an
insult to the teaching profession.
The tension emerged two weeks ago when the regent held a
meeting with representatives of teachers in the regency. A school
principal had been asked to leave the meeting after he questioned
the regent on the low budget for education in the regency.
So far, Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno has not yet
responded to the council's recommendation but said recently that
he would send a team to Riau to investigate the case.
According to Law No. 22/1999 on regional autonomy, a regency
council lacks the authority to dismiss a regent. The authority
rests in the hands of the home minister representing the
President.
Meanwhile, Kampar Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Abdul Hasyim
Gani said that the nine demonstrators detained by the police had
violated Law No. 9/1999, on the freedom to express an opinion
that required them to inform the police at least one day before
the rally.
He asked civil servants not to strike in the future over the
case as the council had met their demand for the regent's ouster.
"We have called on civil servants not to go down to the
streets anymore and to resume their service to the public," he
said.
The 12 councillors who opposed Jefri's dismissal have asked
the National Commission of Human Rights in Jakarta for
protection. They claimed they had been threatened by unidentified
people on Sunday and Monday.
Zapri Harun, along with several other councillors, said he had
left for Jakarta after receiving threats over the telephone and
via short-messaging system (SMS) that his relatives would be
killed. The group of councillors had been accused of supporting
Jefri and Zakir who "oppressed the people".
Of 45 members of the council, 33 supported Jefri's dismissal
while 12 others opposed it.