Yogya governor wants to be appointed, not elected
Yogya governor wants to be appointed, not elected
Sri Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta
Yogyakarta provincial legislative council was at odds over the
draft internal rulings on the gubernatorial election scheduled
for August, as some local people and Sultan Hamengkubuwono X,
also outgoing governor, demanded the appointment, instead of
election, of people to the first and second positions in the
province.
The provincial legislature, in its plenary session on Monday,
failed to endorse the internal rulings as four major factions,
including the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI
Perjuangan) and the Golkar Party, declined to offer their
political support for the rulings, while many councillors from
other factions walked out on the basis that the present situation
was not considered suitable to endorse the rulings.
The governor and his deputy Paku Alam IX also attended the
plenary session.
Hamengkubuwono X will end his term of office in October and
the provincial legislature was set to hold a gubernatorial
election in August.
Meanwhile, thousands of people staged a demonstration along a
section of Jl. Malioboro near the provincial legislature
compound, demanding the direct appointment of governors from the
Yogyakarta sultanate and of deputy governors from the Pakualaman
kingdom.
Joining the demonstration, Hamengkubuwono X expressed his
disappointment over the delayed endorsement of the rulings,
saying the public wanted to see whether the legislature listened
to their aspirations.
"Therefore, in my opinion, if all the factions agree with the
proposed gubernatorial appointment (instead of a gubernatorial
election), there would be no problem at all ... ," he said.
He added the legislature could appoint another person from the
Yogyakarta Palace to be the new governor if he was deemed unfit
to extend his tenure for another next five-year term.
The sultan's view appeared undemocratic despite the province's
special status, because based on Law No. 3/1950 on the formation
of Yogyakarta province, governors and deputy governors were
elected as stipulated by Law No. 22/1948 on public
administration.
Political observer Ichlasul Amal from Gadjah Mada University
called on the provincial legislature to listen to the local
people's aspirations on the appointment of the governor because,
besides its special status, the province and its people were
still part of an aristocratic environment.
"In such a transitional period, I don't think
a gubernatorial election in its real meaning would be suitable,"
he said when asked to comment on the gubernatorial appointment
issue here on Tuesday.
The provincial legislature is still deliberating the draft law
for Yogyakarta's special status.