T

he government has sworn in North Sulawesi’s incumbent Tomohon Mayor Jefferson SM Rumajar to serve a second term, despite that he is a defendant in a graft case.

Jefferson is being detained at the Cipinang Penitentiary in Jakarta for the duration of his trial at the Jakarta Corruption Court.

Jefferson, a Golkar Party politician, said in his swearing-in speech that he would behave responsibly. “I will not run from my responsibility,” he said as quoted by Antara news agency.

“My presence here [at this inauguration] is to answer the people of Tomohon’s wish to fulfill all of the political commitments and pledges I made during the campaign.”

At the Home Ministry in Jakarta, North Sulawesi Governor Sinyo Sarundajang swore in Jefferson, as Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi and Coordinating Public Welfare Minister Agung Laksono, who is deputy head of the Golkar Party, witnessed the ceremony.

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has detained Jefferson since September, to facilitate its investigation into his alleged role in the embezzlement of money from the Tomohon budget between 2006 and 2008.

The KPK has said Jefferson allegedly allocated fictitious budgets for social aid, resulting in Rp 18.8 billion (US$2.09 million) in state losses.

Jefferson was elected Tomohon mayor in 2005, and re-elected in August 2010, just months after the KPK named him a suspect in a graft case in July 2010.

Governor Sarundajang said he would propose that Jefferson be temporarily suspended from his duty as mayor immediately following his inauguration.

A political analyst from the Indonesian Survey Institute, Burhanuddin Muhtadi, said he was concerned about the growing number of regional heads who were implicated in graft cases.

“The government should use the Tomohon case as a valuable lesson to prevent candidates that have been named as suspects to run for regional elections,” he said.

The KPK previously detained Papua’s Boven Digoel regent Yusak Yaluwo for his alleged involvement in the embezzlement of the special autonomy fund for Papua province between 2005 and 2007.

Yusak won re-election last year despite the case.

Muhtadi called on the government and legislators to draft an article explaining that suspects implicated in graft should not be allowed to run in regional elections.

“The fact is that some of our voters are still very tolerant about candidates who have poor track
records on corruption. It is very urgent that the government make a strong regulation prohibiting suspects in graft cases to run for election,” he said.

He said that the public should also impose harsh social sanctions on candidates running for re-election who had been implicated in graft during their previous term.

The KPK earlier said it expected to uncover more graft cases at the regional level as a consequence of its plan to open offices in several regions.

Tomohon Mayor Jefferson asked the Centre for Strategic International Studies to conduct a survey to gauge the public’s reaction to development in Tomohon during his first term, the municipality’s official website tomohonkota.go.id reported last year.

The survey showed that 90 percent of Tomohon residents were satisfied with the development of education, healthcare and infrastructure in the city, the website said.

Jefferson said the survey had encouraged him to run for a second term.