REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - Speaker of the Jakarta city Council (DPRD) Prasetyo Edi Marsudi said the Council instead of the Home Affairs Minister should do the installation of care taker governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (Ahok) as the new governor of the capital city.
Marsudi made the statement amid conflicting arguments with the majority factions in the DPRD opposing the promotion of Ahok to the governorship position. Ahok was vice governor under Governor Joko Widodo, who is now the country's president.
A law says that a vice governor will automatically take over the governorship after being left vacant by the governor. But the faction of the coalition led by Gerindra created a controversy by raising contradictory legal argument.
Earlier, Ahok had angered Gerindra after he quit the party in protest of the party policy of favoring indirect election of regional leaders including governors. Ahok and Joko Widodo won the gubernatorial election of Jakarta sponsored by Gerindra and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP).
The presidential election pitting PDIP candidate Joko Widodo against Gerindra's candidate Prabowo Subianto led to the split of the political coalition of the two parties and dispute between Ahok and his former party Gerindra. The home affairs minister has decided to install Ahok if the DPRD refused to do the installation.
"If Ahok has to be installed by the home affairs minister, that would mean the DPRD has lost its function," Marsudi said on Monday.
He said the Jakarta city council should play its function as people's representatives and at the same time good partner of provincial administration.
"The people of Jakarta will question our competence if the home affairs minister should do the installation," he said.
Therefore, he said, in order to protect the reputation of the DPRD, he would seek a dialog and maintain communications with all factions in the DPRD to forgo personal interest and call for a plenary session for the installation of Ahok.
"However, should any faction still continue to go against the legal procedure, I would take a firm step to follow the rule as recommended by the home affairs ministry," he said, adding "before that happens I would do what is best."
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