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Jokowi to meet with Susan's opponents
Governor Joko âJokowiâ Widodo said he would be inviting representatives of Lenteng Agung residents, who refuse to accept Susan Jasmine Zulkifli as their subdistrict head, to attend a lunch meeting at City Hall next week
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overnor Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo said he would be inviting representatives of Lenteng Agung residents, who refuse to accept Susan Jasmine Zulkifli as their subdistrict head, to attend a lunch meeting at City Hall next week.
During the meeting, the governor is expected to explain Susan's assignment as subdistrict head and the city's official policy regarding the appointment of subdistrict heads.
'Next week, lunch,' Jokowi said briefly when asked about the Lenteng Agung residents' protests, as he instructed his personal assistant to add the appointment to his agenda.
While he said he was prepared to listen to the representatives' demands, he reiterated that he would not bow to public pressure and have Susan removed just because of her religion.
'I have said over and over again: I install someone based on his or her merits, not because of his or her religion. Should I find, six months after her appointment, that [Susan] is not capable [of doing the job], then I will remove her,' he said during a speech at a reception marking the Wahid Institute's ninth anniversary in Jakarta on Thursday.
'We have rules and I have the authority. If I succumb to public pressure just once, the rules would eventually be broken. I don't want that to happen,' he said.
Meanwhile, a group of residents from Lenteng Agung, South Jakarta, continues to oppose Susan's leadership, even though she has already met and discussed this matter with them.
Mohammad Rusli, one of the group's representatives, said he and the other residents were not concerned about Susan's performance. They just wanted her to be replaced with a Muslim official.
'We want the city government to know, however, that most residents don't question Susan's faith. But we feel uncomfortable having a leader whose religion [Christianity] is in the minority here,' he said.
At least 700 people assembled outside the subdistrict office in Jagakarsa on Wednesday morning, carrying yellow flags and a bier shrouded in a white banner that read, 'The Death of Democracy in Lenteng Agung'.
The demonstration was the second since Jokowi inaugurated Susan and more than 300 other subdistrict and district heads on June 27. (ian)
