Anas Urbaningrum elected Democratic Party chairman

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sun, 05/23/2010 8:00 PM | Headlines

New Democratic Party chairman:Anas Urbaningrum

The second congress of Democratic Party, the biggest political party at the House of Representatives, elected on Sunday evening young politician Anas Urbaningrum as its new chairman. 

Anas, currently chairman of the party faction at the House of Representatives, beat House of Representatives Marzuki Alie 280 by 246 votes. 

In the first round, Anas also collected most votes during the first round of elections. Anas collected 236 votes, followed by Marzuki Alie with 209, and Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Andi Mallarangeng trailing at the bottom with only 82 votes.

"This is the victory of the Democratic Party. Three of us will fight for the betterment of the Democratic Party," Anas said, as quoted by TVOne as saying, referring to Marzuki, Andi and himself.  

"This election shows that we can practice democracy well, full of friendship. This is the friendship democracy in Indonesia," he added.

Before the second round of voting, the party's patron President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told participants of the party congress to “listen to their hearts” when voting for the new chairman of the party.

"The first round of elections ran smoothly. Congratulations to Anas Urbaningrum and Marzuki Alie. Andi, you have fought your best but you have to accept your defeat," Yudhoyono told the candidates in front of the congress participants.

Yudhoyono told participants to not succumb to pressure from others in the next round of voting.

"I hope all of you will listen to your hearts. There must be no pressures from anyone. No Democratic [Party] members may pressure others. Everyone may vote according to their hearts," he said.

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City to put smoking ban into effect after June 2010

The Jakarta Post | Sat, 05/22/2010 9:04 AM | Headlines

The city administration plans to enact the bylaw banning smoking in buildings in the near future but questions on its effectiveness remain.

“The bylaw has been in place since May 6. However, there will be an awareness campaign through the media and to building owners before it really takes effect,” city environmental agency (BPLH) head Peni Susanti told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

She said the campaign would last probably until June.

The 2010 Gubernatorial Decree states that smoking areas must be located outside of buildings and away from entrance areas. The sanctions, which are directed to building management, include a written warning and naming the establishment in the media if it continued to allow

smoking.

The new bylaw was drafted following a study conducted by BPLH and Swisscontact Indonesia Foundation, which discovered that nicotine still seeped into the air even if smokers lit up in designated smoking areas.

The study discovered that nicotine was found in 86 percent of no-smoking areas in surveyed restaurants, 32 percent of school areas and 68 percent of hospital areas inspected, which, according to the survey, proved that designated smoking rooms were ineffective in containing cigarette smoke.

The new decree amends the 2005 decree, which stated that smoking areas must be separated from non-smoking areas, equipped with exhaust fans, ashtrays and information about the dangers of smoking.

Swisscontact executive director for Indonesia Dollaris Riauaty Suhadi said her foundation had prepared financial support for the administration to perform inspections on 780 building up to April next year, with one inspection costing around Rp 300,000 (US$32.4). After April, the administration will have to fund its own inspections.

Association of Shopping Center Managers of Indonesia head Stefanus Ridwan said shopping centers had spent millions on building special smoking rooms. “It’s impractical to think that visitors have to go outside the shopping centers just for a smoke,” he said.

Stefanus said the heart of the issue lied in the administration’s commitment to enforcing the rules it drafted.

“In 2005, officials actively supervised the implementation only in the first few months, after which they stopped. In the end, people went back to their old habits.

Agus-Anny duet gets seven top priorities for new jobs

Aditya Suharmoko, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 05/21/2010 10:37 AM | Headlines

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Seven crucial tasks await new Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo and Deputy Finance Minister Anny Ratnawati to maintain the already sound financial sector and improve the still-lagging real sector.

On Thursday Agus and Anny were officially inaugurated by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the State Palace. Former finance minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati will fly to Washington, DC, on May 26 to start her new job as one of the World Bank’s managing directors.

In his speech, Yudhoyono hoped Agus and Anny could follow the “seven instructions” given. “If there are problems, report to the President or the Vice President; we will together find the solutions,” he said.

Congratulatory kiss: Outgoing finance minister Sri Mulyati Indrawati kisses her successor, Agus Martowardojo, after being officially inaugurated by the President into the new Cabinet post at the State Palace in Jakarta on Thursday. JP/Ricky Yudhistira

The instructions include designing a prudent and accurate fiscal policy; increasing domestic state revenue; improving tax collection by preventing misappropriations; continuing reform at the tax office and the customs and excise office; expanding fiscal decentralization; improving the government’s financial reports by working with the Supreme Audit Agency and Finance Development Comptroller; and playing a global role at international forums like the G20 as had Mulyani.

Yudhoyono thanked Mulyani for her work as finance minister.

“The nation and the government record your tireless efforts in normal times and in crisis. Indonesia was saved in the last crisis also because of your work. You should be thankful for getting this important role [at the World Bank].

“[Your efforts] may not always be remembered by the people, but they will always be recorded by God.

So long, do your job for the interest of the world and emerging countries,” he said.

The former president director of Bank Mandiri was considered as the right person to replace Mulyani.

The local stock market also reacted positively to his appointment. The Jakarta Composite Index rallied during early trading. But stocks lost the steam in the afternoon as the fall in share prices in other Asian markets hit home. The index finally lost 1.28 percent to end the day at 2,694.24.

After the inauguration, Mulyani told Agus he would face many challenges in developing the Finance Ministry. “I see Agus has the integrity and high dedication. We will wait for your leadership,” she said.

Mulyani, who never cried in public, broke down in tears at the ministry Thursday night as she bade farewell after nearly five years in office.

Agus, who has filed his resignation as Bank Mandiri president director, said he would keep on with reform at the ministry. “I will make civil servants proud of their corps, and make them perform their duties with dedication although the salary may still be considered low,” he said.

Agus also said he would increase tax collection by registering more taxpayers and creating a healthy business climate to boost more business profits, which would be taxed.

Whether he would chase tax evaders, he said: “I will learn about them first.”

He added that he would communicate with all stakeholders, including the House of Representatives and non-profit agencies, to gain their support.

In a surprising move, Anggito Abimanyu, the Finance Ministry’s head of fiscal policy, filed his resignation Thursday. He said he would return to Yogyakarta after finding out that he would not become deputy finance minister.

“Within these six months I was considered as [possible] deputy minister but without any certainty. Now there’s a definitive deputy minister [in place] I have my option to return to Gadjah Mada University. It’s been 10 years, time to return,” he said, adding that his family is now in Yogyakarta.

Anggito denied any political link that might have cost him losing the deputy minister’s position, calling such allegations “slanderous”.