Five gubernatorial candidate pairs contest East Java

ID Nugroho , The Jakarta Post , Surabaya | Tue, 07/22/2008 10:14 AM | The Archipelago

The pairing of Khofifah Indar Parawansa and Mudjiono (KAJI)
Number: 1
Wealth: Rp 3.6 billion (Khofifah); Rp 4.1 billion (Mudjiono)
Party support: The United Development Party and 11 other minority parties

Born in Surabaya on May 19, 1965, Khofifah is the only female candidate in East Java's first direct gubernatorial election. She was women's empowerment minister during the Abdurrahman Wahid administration from 1999 to 2001 and is now a lawmaker with the National Awakening Party (PKB), representing the electoral district of Sidoarjo.

She is well-connected with Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the country's largest Muslim organization, and led its women's wing, Muslimat NU, between 2000 and 2001.

Her running mate Mudjiono is a retired Army colonel, former chief-of-staff of East Java's Brawijaya military command and graduated from the Military Academy in 1975. He was born in Yogyakarta on April 10, 1951.

Khofifah and Mudjiono, known as KAJI, consider modern technology as their main platform for the potential development of East Java, if they win the election. Through technological development, the people of East Java, mostly farmers, would be able to maximize their efforts to improve their livlihoods and well-being.

They have also promised to streamline bureaucracy to prepare the way for investment into the province, which has more than 32 million people.

KAJI says a strong leader is needed to guide the country's second most populated province and strengthen the economy, including the rebuilding of infrastructure and improvement of public services.

They support developing professional schools up to international standards to improve the quality of human resources in East Java.

The pairing of Sutjipto and Ridwan Hisjam (SR)
Number: 2
Wealth: Rp 7.99 billion (Sutjipto); Rp 15.1 billion (Ridwan)
Party support: The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P)

Soetjipto, born in Trenggalek, East Java, on Aug. 13, 1945, is a former secretary-general of PDI-P and a senior lawmaker with the party, led by former president Megawati Soekarnoputri.

His running mate Ridwan is a businessman and politician from the Golkar Party. Born on May 26, 1958, he is the richest candidate and deputy chairman of East Java's Golkar Party.

This pair, calling themselves SR (Sutjipto and Ridwan), created a popular slogan -- "for a healthy, just and prosperous East Java", during the 14-day election campaign that ended Saturday.

Sutjipto is blaming the high rates of poverty and illiteracy, as well as slow economic growth, on the mismanagement of the East Java administration.

Low-cost education for local people is part of the program offered by Sutjipto. After prioritizing improvement in human resources quality, a further step will be to improve health services for the poor by providing free medication through mobile community health centers.

The next focus for the Sutjipto-Ridwan pair is to change the working culture of the East Java administration to ensure fast, low-cost, easily accessible and good quality public services. Their aim in achieving this goal is to improve welfare for the people.

The pairing of Soenarjo and Ali Maschan Moesa (SALAM)
Number: 3
Wealth: Rp 10.98 billion (Soenarjo); Rp 5.6 billion (Ali)
Party support: Golkar Party

Soenarjo, who was born in Blitar on Jan. 19, 1945, recently resigned as East Java deputy governor to run in the gubernatorial election. He leads Golkar at the provincial level.

A prominent puppeteer in East Java, Soenarjo has familiarized his planned programs as candidate through live performances on local TV. He is the second richest candidate after Ridwan Hisjam.

His running mate Ali Maschan Moesa is a lecturer at the Sunan Ampel Institute of Islamic Studies (IAIN) in Surabaya. He was dismissed as leader of East Java's Nahdlatul Ulama for breaching standing orders that ban executives from involvement in practical politics.

The pair of Soenarjo and Ali, known by their acronym as SALAM, is campaigning for a just and professional society in line with the special character of the people of East Java.

The candidates want to start their development programs by reforming the provincial administration and bureaucracy. Synergy and good communications between the government and the people are their key to successful development programs.

The pairing of Achmady and Soehartono (ACHSAN)
Number: 4
Wealth: Rp 4.2 billion (Ahmady); Rp 1.6 billion (Soehartono)
Party support: The National Awakening Party (PKB)

Achmady resigned recently as Mojokerto regent to contest the East Java election with the backing of the National Awakening Party (PKB), led by former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid.

Born in Mojokerto on Nov. 8, 1950, Achmady is a senior activist with Nahdlatul Ulama and a graduate from the Sunan Ampel Institute of Islamic Studies in Surabaya and the Public Administration Academy.

He had one of the least prominent public profiles during the election campaign. His running mate Soehartono is a retired Army officer who graduated from the Military Academy in 1975. Born in Kertosono regency, he was once chief-of-staff of East Java's Brawijaya district military command.

With his wealth amounting to only Rp 1.6 billion Soehartono is the poorest among the candidates.

The pair, calling themselves ACHSAN, has a vision to make East Java a prosperous province by eliminating unemployment and poverty, and ensuring food security.

This ideal could be attained with the creation of more job opportunities for local people. They also want people living in forest areas involved in programs to improve their welfare.

With regard to health issues, the Achmady-Suhartono pair suggests that the East Java administration should insure poor people for medical services and upgrade the status of community health centers into small hospitals.

The pairing of Soekarwo and Saefullah Yusuf (KARSA)
Number: 5
Wealth: Rp 9.20 billion (Soekarwo); Rp 6.01 billion (Saefullah)
Party support: The National Mandate Party and the Democratic Party

Before declaring his bid for the gubernatorial election, Soekarwo was secretary of the East Java administration. His pairing with Saefullah, who leads Anshor, youth wing of the NU, contributed to his popularity ahead of the election. Born in Madiun regency on June 16, 1950, Soekarwo holds a doctoral degree from the law school at Diponegoro University in Semarang, Central Java.

He has popularized his nickname as Pakde (grandfather) Karwo and has promoted his charismatic image through soccer. No wonder he remains the most popular candidate based on the latest survey issued Sunday, thanks partly to his proposal to distribute free basic food commodities to the public.

Saefullah, born in Pasuruan regency on Aug. 28, 1964, is a young Nahdlatul Ulama politician with talented lobbying skills and a graduate from the social and political science department of National University, Jakarta. He joined the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle before switching to the National Awakening Party (PKB) as secretary-general. He later quit the PKB to join the United Development Party.

His highest political position was as state minister for disadvantaged regions from 2004 to 2007 during the Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono administration. Saefullah left his ministerial post when he was replaced by Lukman Edy from the PKB as part of the latest Cabinet shake-up.

If elected in the gubernatorial race the pair of Soekarwo and Saefullah, as KARSA, promise to reform the bureaucracy and work with the private sector.

For them, a pro-people budget would show a real commitment to protecting the interests of poor people. They said the budget should support small and medium enterprises and rebuild rural roads to give local people better access to economic resources and markets.

The pair plan to establish modern, advanced and professional Islamic boarding schools (pesantren). According to Saefullah, who is close to senior NU clerics, some 1.2 million pesantren students in East Java need local administration support.