Ken Yunita, Jakarta – The two candidates in the Jakarta gubernatorial elections, Adang Daradjatun and Fauzi Bowo, have been given a motion of no confidence by the Urban Poor Union (SRMK), the Indonesian Disabled People’s Association (PPCI) and the Indonesian Transsexual Forum (FWI).
The groups were deeply disappointed because both candidates refused to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) making a commitment to support the people that if they are elected as governor in the August 8 election of regional heads.
Around 200 people from the three groups had been waiting for the candidates at the Jakarta Legal Aid (LBH) offices on Jl. Diponegoro in Central Jakarta since 12noon on Saturday August 4. By 3.30pm however, neither candidate had arrived. Both informed the groups that they would be unable to attend for various reasons.
LBH Jakarta had earlier contacted the election campaign teams from the two camps. As of Saturday morning, both campaign teams were still saying that the candidates would meet with the groups. By Saturday afternoon however they received news to the contrary.
The Adang Daradjatun-Dani Anwar camp said that that they needed more time to study the contents of the MoU while the Fauzi Bowo camp said they were attending another event.
The 200 or so demonstrators from the three groups responded by accusing the two candidate tickets for Jakarta governor and deputy governor of being cowards.
“By failing to attend they have shown that they are afraid to confront us”, said Arum, a SRMK member from the Kembangan administrative district of West Jakarta. Following this the protesters shouted in unison, “We hereby declare a motion of no confidence in the two candidates!”.
Arum also revealed that in fact the MoU that was to be signed had already been given to both candidates for them to study. Up until now however, the draft had yet to be returned to LBH Jakarta.
The MoU that was given to the candidates by the three groups included a commitment to an education budget of 20 percent without interfering with teacher’s wages, free education, the eradication of corruption within the education bureaucracy, a commitment to end evictions and seek a social solution to the problem, cuts to the budget for evictions and to provide land to the urban poor.
In addition to this, it called for revising Bylaw No. 11/1998 so that it contained a human rights perspective, gender equality and pro-poor policies, an end to violence by the civil service police, increasing the minimum wage by 50 percent, an end to discrimination against transsexuals who work in the formal and informal sectors, abolishing contract labour and making services at community healthcare centres free. (umi/sss)
[Translated by James Balowski.]
