President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo took the oath of the new governors and vice governors for nine provinces, including the new Governor of South Sulawesi Nurdin Abdullah and his Vice Governor Andi Sudirman Sulaiman. Nurdin, therefore, will have the power to swear in the local leaders for regencies/municipalities in South Sulawesi province who was elected in the 2018 simultaneous regional elections. But the question is who will become the next mayor of Makassar, the capital city of South Sulawesi?
The inauguration ceremony for the new governors and vice governors of nine provinces was held at the State Palace Jakarta, Wednesday (Sep. 5). President Jokowi decided to move up the inauguration date from the initial schedule of September 17. The Presiden took the oath of:, the President also took the oath of the new governors and vice governors of the other eight provinces. They are as follows:
- The new Governor of South Sulawesi Nurdin Abdullah and his Vice Governor Andi Sudirman Sulaiman
- The new Governor of West Java Ridwan Kamil and his Vice Governor Uu Ruzhanul Ulum
- The Governor of Central Java Ganjar Pranowo and his Vice Governor Taj Yasin Maimoen
- The Governor of Papua Lukas Enembe and his Vice Governor Klemen Tinal
- The Governor of East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) Viktor Bungtilu Laiskodat and his Vice Governor Josef Nae Soi
- The new Governor of Southeast Sulawesi Ali Mazi and his Vice Governor Lukman Abunawas
- The new Governor of Bali I Wayan Koster and his Vice Governor Tjokorda Oka Artha Ardhana Sukawati
- The new Governor of West Kalimantan Sutarmidji and his Vice Governor Ria Norsan
- The new Governor of North Sumatera Edy Rahmayadi and his Vice Governor Musa “Ijeck” Rajekshah.
With the said inauguration, by law, the aforementioned new governors now having the power to take the oath of new regents/vice regents and new mayors/vice mayors elected in the 2018 simultaneous regional elections in their respective province.
For South Sulawesi, Nurdin Abdullah will later take the oath of new regents/vice regents and new mayors/vice mayors in 12 regencies/municipalities. The said 12 regencies/municipalities are Parepare city, Palopo city, Bantaeng, Jeneponto, Sinjai, Bone, Wajo, Sidenreng Rappang (Sidrap), Pinrang, Enrekang, and Luwu regencies. Nurdin, who is also a former regent of Bantaeng for two periods, is a big supporter of President Jokowi.
The position of Mayor of Makassar, however, remains unclear. As we all know, only one pair of candidates participated in the race after the elimination of the incumbent Mohammad Ramdhan “Danny” Pomanto and his running mate Indira Mulyasari Paramastuti Ilham from the race by the local election commission (KPUD). Munafri Arifuddin and his running mate Rachmatika Dewi Yustitia Iqbal, the only pair competing in the race, lost to an undesignated ballot box by a significant margin. Based on the KPUD’s official counting, Munafri-Rachmatika collected 264,245 out of 565,040 total eligible votes (46.77%), while 300,795 voters (53.23%) voted for the undesignated ballot box. Munafri-Rachmatika submitted a lawsuit to the Constitutional Court (MK) to challenge the result of the KPUD’s official tally. But the MK rejected their lawsuit.
Munafri’s defeat is disappointing for Vice President Jusuf Kalla, for Munafri is the son-in-law of businessman-cum-politician Aksa Mahmud and the nephew of VP Kalla.
The Central Government, in this context the Home Affairs Minister, has the authority to appoint an acting mayor for Makassar. This authority is clearly stipulated in Article 54D Paragraph 4 of Law 10/2016 and also Law No. 23/2014 on the Regional Administration and the Home Affairs Minister’s Regulation (Permendagri) No. 1/2018. Article 5 Paragraph 2 of the Permendagri No. 1/2018 notes that the governor of South Sulawesi should propose 3 candidates of acting mayor to the Home Affairs Minister. So, by law, Nurdin Abdullah, in his capacity as the new South Sulawesi governor, will have the privilege to propose said candidates. The candidates, according to Article 132 Paragraph 1 letter b of the Government Regulation (PP) No. 49/2008, must be from the pool of echelon II officials at the South Sulawesi provincial administration and or at the Home Affairs Ministry. The Minister will choose one from said three nominees. Article 5 Paragraph 3 of Permendagri 1/2018, however, notes that Minister of Home Affairs Tjahjo Kumolo has the authority to directly appoint an acting mayor without asking for the recommendation of the governor for the sake of national strategic interest.
So, the ball is now in the hands of Minister Tjahjo Kumolo, who is also a PDIP politician. Tjahjo could appoint someone favorable to Jokowi or at least a neutral figure to become the acting mayor of Makassar.
Having said that, it’s worth noting that Danny Pomanto was sworn in as Makassar Mayor back in May 8, 2014, and as such Danny still has nine months left to serve as Mayor of Makassar before his term ends on May 8, 2019.
By Haryanto Suharman
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