West Java gears for first election under autonomy

West Java gears for first election under autonomy

Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung

West Java is preparing for its first gubernatorial election in
the regional autonomy era, with candidates from civilian and
military backgrounds vying for the province's top job.

The winner of the election will replace Governor R. Nuriana,
whose second term expires in June. The former chief of the
Siliwangi Military Command, which oversees West Java, has been
the province's governor since 1992.

A draft of the election procedures is currently being
finalized, said Syarif Bastaman, who heads the committee at the
West Java legislative council that is drafting the procedures.

He said the gubernatorial election was scheduled to take place
in June.

"The Ministry of Home Affairs has given us until Jan. 23 to
have the election procedures endorsed during a plenary session of
the local council," Bastaman said in Bandung on Wednesday.

The draft of the procedures, he said, was based in part on
input from a number of organizations and local public figures.
But only educational institutions and organizations were asked
for their opinions, he said, explaining that most other
organizations and institutions were affiliated with political
parties.

"This is to avoid the interests of political parties
interfering with the draft process," said Bastaman, a councillor
from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI
Perjuangan).

The upcoming gubernatorial election will mark the first time
that the West Java legislative council will elect the governor,
the task having previously fallen to Jakarta.

Regional autonomy is part of the sweeping political changes
triggered by the downfall of former president Soeharto in 1998.

Fearing the political changes of 1998 would lead rich
provinces to break away from Indonesia, Jakarta moved to assuage
demands for greater authority by passing the autonomy law in
1999.

The Directorate General for Regional Autonomy at the Ministry
of Home Affairs has ruled that election procedures should refer
to the autonomy law and its directives, Bastaman said.

"They gave us, as a guideline, regional autonomy law No.
22/1999 and government regulation 151/2000 on the procedures for
electing the head of a region," he said.

Based on these guidelines, a gubernatorial candidate's race,
religion or place of domicile cannot be made a requirement for
the election, he said.

Meanwhile, 90 percent of West Java population is Muslim
Sundanese, according to Bastaman.

"The point is, that it's all right that (candidates) may be
ethnic Minang, non-Muslim and live outside of West Java," he
said. "There are lots of people who have been living in West Java
for the past 10 years but don't care about what's going on in
West Java."

He said the committee drafting the election procedures also
was seeking to counter the belief that a West Java governor must
have a military background.

The province was seen as the backbone to security in Jakarta
under Soeharto's three decades of iron rule.

During the Soeharto years, a governor from the military was
seen as being more reliable than a civilian in maintaining
security.

Local political parties, meanwhile, have begun listing their
candidates for the gubernatorial race.

The head of the local chapter of PDI Perjuangan, Rudi Harsa
Tanaya, is one of those who has been named a candidate, and he is
optimistic about securing a win.

Rudi said the party's West Java chapter picked him to run for
the gubernatorial seat, but added that the decision needed the
approval of the party's chairwoman, President Megawati
Soekarnoputri.

Another candidate is former Siliwangi Military chief Maj. Gen.
(ret) Tayo Tarmadi, who was nominated by the West Java chapter of
the National Awakening Party (PKB).

The local chapter of the Golkar Party has yet to name any
candidates. "It's too early, even though many people have come to
Golkar asking to be nominated. But we haven't decided," said
Bambang Haryono, the secretary of the Golkar faction at the
council.