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ANGERANG: Councilors in the newly established municipality of South Tangerang have said that if the city fails to elect a mayor by January it should rejoin Tangerang regency, from which it split in 2008.

South Tangerang will mark its second anniversary in Jan. 18, but a recent verdict by the Constitutional Court annulling the victory of mayor-elect Airin Rahmy Diany in a recent election, forces the city to hold a rerun of the vote in March next year.

Law No. 51/2008 on the formation of South Tangerang stipulates that the municipality should elect a mayor within three years of its creation.

South Tangerang council deputy speaker Ruhamaben said all political factions in the council had ordered the city administration to consult Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi over the municipality’s future.

“It is impossible to have a mayor elect in January because the election commission [KPUD] is short of funds to pay for the rerun. The existing budget of Rp 10 billion is enough only for a run-off vote,” Ruhamaben said.

He said preparing the budget for the election rerun would take time, and therefore it would be unlikely to happen before January next year.

Separately, South Tangerang election commission head Iman Perwira Bachsan said he could not set a date for the election rerun. “The sooner the administration can disburse the funds, the sooner we can hold the re-run of the election,” he said. — JP