Wahidin to lead Tangerang, pledges to help the needy

Wahidin to lead Tangerang, pledges to help the needy

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

Wahidin Halim, secretary to the Tangerang municipal
administration, was elected on Wednesday as mayor of the
industrial town Tangerang, located near Jakarta.

Wahidin, the sibling of foreign affairs minister Hasan
Wirayuda, edged out two other candidates by pocketing 34 out of
42 votes.

He was paired in the election with Deddy Sjafei, the executive
chairman of the municipal branch of the Nation Mandate Party
(PAN). Wahidin and Deddy will be installed as mayor and deputy
mayor on Nov. 29 for 2003-2008 term. They were nominated by the
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) and the
Golkar Party factions respectively.

Besides Wahidin and Deddy, two other pairs of candidates
contested the election. They were Rusman Umar and Madsani Machmud
who were nominated by the United Development Party (PPP) factions
while Fakhrudin and Sadjiran Tarmizie were nominated by the
Madani faction received four votes each.

Forty three out of 45 councillors attended the election but
only 42 cast votes, with another councillor abstaining. The
municipal council speaker Gian Sugiharsono, who had earlier
stated that he would abstain in the election, was absent.
Another councillor Samidi died of a heart attack in hospital
a week before the election.

Hundreds of police officers were deployed around the council
building and the municipal administration office center complex
on Jalan Satria Sudirman to safeguard the proceedings.

Wahidin told The Jakarta Post after the election that he
would mainly focus on educational and health infrastructure
development, two sectors he thought were still in poor condition.

"As I told you before, besides that, unemployment and flood
handling programs are also serious problems that need special
attention from this administration ahead," he said.

Meanwhile, chairman of the election committee Krisna Gunata
said the public had between Oct. 30 and Nov. 1 to express their
views and opinions on the election of the new mayor and deputy
mayor.

"The new mayor and his deputy have to be installed in office
by Nov. 29, when outgoing mayor M. Thamrin ends his term," he
told the Post.

The chairman of the municipal NGOs Komunike Presidium for the
Election Control Imron Hamami said that Wahidin won the votes
because he had advantages compared to the two other candidates.

"Wahidin Halim is more acceptable to all community and
religious figures in the municipality because he has a good
reputation and a solid track record. It is no wonder if support
spontaneously came to him without being engineered," he said.

Wowok Prabowo, an intellectual said that Wahidin had a better
vision and mission than the other two candidates.

"Wahidin is a quite experienced administration official and
possesses a good knowledge of governance," he said.