Is Bakrie seeking for security through local poll?

When three company executives announced their candidacy to run in the upcoming Sidoarjo regency election, many saw the move as a political attempt to pacify the operation of Lapindo Brantas Inc. mining company from the prolonged mudflow disaster.

The three executives — Yuniwati Teryana, Gesang Budiarso and Bambang Prasetyo Widodo — denied their nomination was linked to political interests of Lapindo.

The firm was controlled by the family of Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie.

Yuniwati, Lapindo’s relations and social affairs vice president, and Gesang, a commissioner of  
PT Minarak Lapindo Jaya, a subsidiary of Lapindo, are still seeking support from political parties for their candidacy after Golkar decided to throw its weight to Bambang, Minarak’s director of operation, in the election.

“I am not a politician but I have my political rights to contend the election. My candidacy has nothing to do with Lapindo’s political interests, including the suspended compensation payment to mudflow victims and the Bank Century bailout,” Yuniwati said.

During his visit to the mudflow site, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono instructed Lapindo to speed up the payment of compensation to mudflow victims although the firm was legally not guilty for the disaster.

Last year, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Lapindo in a legal dispute over the way the company handled the mudflow victims.

The mudflow occurred in May 2006 when Lapindo was running an exploratory drilling program and drilling in the area.

 In 2008, the government declared the mudflow a “natural disaster”, which saw 40,000 people displaced from their homes.

However, many scientists said they considered the mudflow was caused by human intervention.
Golkar decided to nominate Bambang because, as a son of former Sidoarjo regent Soewandi, he was regarded as having a higher chance to be elected.

Bambang is deemed to be more popular than the other two executives due to his former post as local channel ArekTV president.

Yuniwati and Gesang said they would run as independent candidates if they failed to gain support from political parties.

“From the 2007 gubernatorial election to the 2010 regent election, all candidates have pledged immediate fair settlement for victims ”

The three executives will challenge incumbent deputy regent Saiful Illah during the July 25
election.

For Ahmad Rofik, a 41-year-old mudflow victim in Jatirejo village, the regency election would not change the victims’ fate as he thought the candidates were not committed to tackle existing problems related to the disaster.

“From the 2007 gubernatorial election to the 2009 legislative and presidential elections and now the 2010 regent election, all candidates have pledged an immediate fair settlement for mudflow victims. But nothing has been done,” he said.

Pitanto, the Mudflow Victims’ Association chairman, said the victims had filed a protest on the candidacy of the three Lapindo executives to the Sidoarjo General Elections Commission as they feared the compensation payment issue would be dropped if they won the election.

“The victims believed the three candidates are financed by Bakrie to protect his business interests in the regency,” he said.

Pitanto added  that the firm mining operation continued and no action had been taken against Lapindo for suspending the compensation payment.

Mohammad Asfar, a political analyst of Surabaya-based Airlangga University, also said if one of the three executives won the election, it would be easier for Lapindo to coordinate with the government and related institutions in handling problems related to Bakrie’s business interests in the area.

Meanwhile the local elections commission chairman Anshori said the body had no rights to ban
the three candidates to run in the election.