Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – City Governor Sutiyoso is under fire with groups lobbying to unseat him.
Even President Megawati Sukarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) is after him and is blaming his controversial policies for the party's defeat in the capital city.
This week the legislators launched stinging attacks for his administration's abundant failures, including its inability to prevent widespread flooding, and mismanagement of sewerage and waste.
They highlighted his decision to evict some 11,500 families in the city over the past year, and his controversial new traffic policies, which caused major headaches to Jakarta motorists.
Last week, city residents had to suffer a prolonged traffic jam after an eight-hour downpour.
Two years ago, Mr Sutiyoso was a target of ire for a similar situation. Residents were annoyed with him for not preparing for the imminent floods in 2002, which paralysed the capital for more than a week, killed 30 and displaced over 300,000 people. Despite past lessons, the flood canals across the city are still not ready.
Mr Sutiyoso's other controversial policies include a recent land swop deal with a private firm that forced hundreds of students of a public school to move to a new and unfavourable location.
But while the former general's list of opponents continues to swell, he has managed to safeguard his position again at least for another year after convincing most members of the Jakarta Council to accept his annual accountability report on Monday.
Except for four members of the Justice Party, the 11 factions including the PDI-P accepted the annual report, even though earlier they were inclined to reject it.
If the report had been rejected, Mr Sutiyoso would have been given 100 days to improve his performance or face removal from office. In 2002, his accountability statement was almost rejected.
Though PDI-P members accepted his report on Monday, the party has begun to maintain some distance from the Governor after the party that won in the 1999 elections assessed its defeat this year.
The party lost to the Muslim-based Prosperous Justice Party, and the Democratic Party in the capital in the April 5 election.
The Straits Times understands that some PDI-P cadres wanted him removed from office to salvage the party's image ahead of the July presidential election. But the party is split, with some influential members backing him.
"As of Friday, there were talks among the city councillors that they would reject the speech," said a PDI-P official in favour of booting him out. "But by Monday, the stance was changed to our surprise."
The former commander of Jakarta Military Command is also seen as a crucial figure in maintaining security in the capital ahead of the election in July.
Mr Maringan Pangaribuan of the PDI-P faction in the city council defended his faction's decision, saying: "We should avoid creating any more enemies in the run-up to the presidential election." But others said the decision to continue to support Mr Sutiyoso could backfire on the party.
Coordinator of the NGO, Jakarta Residents Forum, Mr Azas Tigor Nainggolan, said: "PDI-P may prevent itself from making one enemy, but it has made the enemies of many people by continuing to back Sutiyoso. This will be shown when people choose not to vote for Megawati in the presidential election."