Party coalition nominates governor’s wife in mayoral race
Rizal Harahap, The Jakarta Post, Pekanbaru | Fri, 03/04/2011 10:57 AM
A coalition of the five large political parties in Pekanbaru, Riau province, has nominated Riau Governor Rusli Zainal’s wife, Septina Primawati, as their candidate in the mayoral race to be held on May 18.
The five nominating parties were the Democratic Party (PD), the Golkar Party, the National Mandate Party (PAN), the United Development Party (PPP) and the National Awakening Party (PKB). They have a combined 29 out of 45 seats in the municipal legislative council.
Septina is a member of Golkar.
“PD’s Riau provincial branch decided to select Septina because she topped the other candidates according to our recent survey,” branch chair H.R. Mambang Mit said Thursday.
According to Mambang, Septina has a good vision and mission to develop Pekanbaru and has the capability to hold the top post in the municipality considering she has been the chairwoman of various organizations.
“In principle we wanted to nominate someone from our own party for the mayoral post. But if there is a candidate from outside the party that is supported by the people, we will prioritize the people’s choice,” he said.
Golkar’s Riau branch chair Indra Mukhlis Adnan said Septina’s running mate would not be a problem for his party. “We will present three names. It’s up to Septina to pick one,” Indra said.
He said Golkar made a careful decision in choosing their mayoral candidate. “We picked a candidate that also has the ability to accommodate other political parties as coalition partners.”
Indra denied accusations that Golkar chose Septina because she is Rusli Zainal’s wife and he chairs the executive and judicial division of Golkar’s central executive board.
“She really deserves our support. She is a Golkar member and also a member of the supervision body of Golkar’s women’s wing,” Indra said.
Both Indra and Mambang expressed optimism about a mayoral victory for Septina, especially because the nominating coalition had control of so many seats in the municipal council. Both PD and Golkar have nine seats, PAN has five, PPP four and PKB two seats.
