Walkout fails to stop mayoral election

Kasparman Piliang, The Jakarta Post, Padang, West Sumatra

A walkout marred the election of the new Padang Panjang mayor in West Sumatra on Monday, with at least seven of the 19 members of the local legislative council storming out of the meeting.

The seven councillors -- five from Golkar Party, two from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) and two from the United Development Party (PPP) -- said the mayoral election had to be postponed, arguing it violated the council's standing orders.

But the walkout failed to stop the contest and 12 members of the council unanimously elected Suir Syam as the new mayor, and Adirozal as his deputy. Suir will replace the incumbent mayor, Yohanis Tamin.

Fatoni Rasyid, who chairs the Golkar faction on the council, said the walkout was to protest procedural flaws in the election.

"We staged the protest because one of the candidates had not fulfilled the administrative requirements," he said.

Rasyid said that under the regulations on the mayoral election, a civil servant must obtain permission from the minister overseeing the state agency he works for before standing.

He was apparently referring to Adirozal, who is a lecturer in Padang Panjang. It was believed that he had not obtained permission from the national education minister.

The pairing of Suir and Adirozal was nominated by the National Mandate Party (PAN), the Crescent Star Party (PBB) and the Justice Party (PK).

Suir and Adirozal defeated their rivals -- the pairings of Iskandar Hamzah and Ahmad Rahdi, who were backed by the PDI Perjuangan, Afrizal Moetwa and Teddi Alfonso backed by Golkar, and Guspardi Gaus and Masroel Moesa backed by the PPP.

The military/police faction did not name any candidates.

"Whatever the result is, we will consistently reject it as it is legally flawed," said Rasyid, who was among those who walked out.

He argued that the election should have been attended by at least two-thirds of the electoral committee members and all the faction chairpersons.

"What happened in the election was that three of the six faction chairpersons, and four of the 10-member election committee walked out or did not show up," Rasyid said.

Three months ago, similar chaos marred the election of Djasril as the new mayor of Padang, who it was claimed had failed to meet the administrative requirements. This led to a delay in his inauguration.