Ruslan Sangadji, The Jakarta Post, Palu
The swearing-in ceremony of Central Sulawesi's governor-elect Banjela Paliudju and his deputy Achmad Yahya was mired by a protest Friday by some 200 people calling themselves the Central Sulawesi Inter-ethnic Forum.
The protesters claimed that the inauguration was invalid and the new governor lacked absolute legitimacy.
The rally, which was brief, did not disrupt the inauguration at the Central Sulawesi legislative building on Jl. Sam Ratulangi in Palu, but at one point security personnel were on alert because the crowd tried to force themselves through the barricade erected at the Jl. Sam Ratulangi and Jl. Ki Maja intersection.
The crowd, believed to be mobilized by one of the losing gubernatorial candidates, were prevented from assembling in front of the legislative building due to police reinforcements, the elite Mobile Brigade and municipal police personnel, as well as supporters of the governor-elect.
The crowd eventually dispersed before the ceremony -- presided over by Home Minister M. Ma'ruf -- concluded under the heat of the midday sun.
Earlier during the protest, the motorcade carrying the home minister and Attorney General Abdurrahman Saleh was forced to take a detour to arrive at the legislative building on time.
A number of high-ranking state officials, council leaders, as well as governors from neighboring provinces attended the ceremony. A number of ministers, earlier slated to attend, were not present.
A number of people criticized Rully Lamadjido (former Central Sulawesi vice governor and gubernatorial candidate who was placed second in the regional direct election on Jan. 16) for being absent from the ceremony, unlike Aminuddin Ponulele (former governor who was placed third in the election) who was present and even seen hugging the elected pair, much to the amusement of attendees and guests.
A member of Rully Lamadjido's campaign team, Erwin Ampana, said that Rully was still in Jakarta after leaving Palu a week after the election concluded.
In the election Banjela was the only gubernatorial candidate with a military background.
In his address, Ma'ruf said that the regional direct election in Central Sulawesi was carried out peacefully, smoothly and in a democratic manner. "There were a few glitches, but that is normal in a democracy."
He also said he expected the governor to be able to differentiate between tasks that lent themselves to decentralization from those that should remain under the authority of the central government.
"Should there be a provincial bylaw that is clearly not in line with a higher ruling, you must not hesitate to annul it," he asserted.
Other major tasks asked of the new governor are immediate action to eliminate corruption, attention to people's basic needs, the improvement of health and education and preserving environmental sustainability.***
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