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Court ruling leaves North Sumatra deputy governor seat empty
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Proven guilty -- Former North Sumatra governor Gatot Pujo Nugroho (left) consults with his lawyer after he was sentenced to six years in prison over corruption in a trial at the Medan Corruption Court on Nov.24. (JP/Apriadi Gunawan)
A recent ruling by the Jakarta State Administrative Court has ordered the Home Ministry to halt the process of appointing a North Sumatra deputy governor, a position that has been vacant for eight months.
The court ruled in favor of the North Sumatra chapter of the National Ulema Awakening Party (PKNU), which was the plaintiff in the lawsuit, and declared the ministry’s decree dated Aug. 4, 2016 invalid.
According to the court’s decision, which was issued on Dec. 22, the ministry must revoke the decree that regulates the mechanism for filling a vacant deputy governor post in the province.
“But the North Sumatra legislative council turned a blind eye and decided to elect Nur Azizah Marpaung as the new deputy governor,” PKNU North Sumatra chairman Muhammad Ikhyar Harahap said on Thursday.
The PKNU claimed it had been sidelined in the appointment of the new deputy governor while claiming that, according to the 2016 Regional Elections Law, they should have been involved in the process.
(Read also: Ex-N. Sumatra governor sentenced to 6 years in prison for corruption)
In April last year, then deputy governor Erry Nuradi was promoted to governor to replace former governor Gatot Pujo Nugroho, who had been convicted of corruption.
According to the Regional Elections Law, Ikhyar said, all the political parties that had supported the Gatot-Erry ticket during the 2012 gubernatorial election must together select two candidates to fill the vacant deputy governor post.
The provincial legislative council is to then elect one of the two candidates and he or she would subsequently be inaugurated by the Home Ministry under a presidential decree.
Gatot and Erry were supported by the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the Hanura Party, the PKNU, the Patriot Party and the National Unity Party (PPN).
However, the decision to propose Nur Azizah as deputy governor was only made by the PKS and Hanura. Hence it was illegal, Ikhyar claimed. He added that the PKNU had also informed the State Secretariat about the court’s ruling in hope that the process to fill the vacant deputy governor post could be restarted.
As of Thursday, Nur Azizah had yet to be inaugurated.(jun)
