Mexican mayor slain ahead of elections

Associated Press, Mexico | Fri, 11/04/2011 10:32 AM

The mayor of La Piedad was handing out campaign fliers outside a fast-food restaurant when a black SUV pulled up, a hand holding a pistol appeared at its window, and he went down with a shot.

Ricardo Guzman, 45, died late Wednesday in an ambulance racing to the hospital, one of more than two dozen Mexican mayors who've been assassinated since 2006, the majority presumed victims of drug violence.

But Guzman's killing raised new questions about organized crime's impact on Mexico's democracy, specifically the Nov. 13 elections in the western state of Michoacan, where Guzman had been handing out campaign material for gubernatorial candidate Luisa Maria Calderon, President Felipe Calderon's sister.

Before Guzman's assassination, polling firm workers were kidnapped in August while trying to conduct surveys on the election, though they were later released unharmed. The three major political parties all say they have local candidates who have received some kind of pressure or threats in the Calderon family home state, where the president launched his drug war five years ago.

1,200 police deployed to secure inauguration of S. Tangerang mayor

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 04/20/2011 10:00 AM | Archipelago

Up to 1,200 police personnel, mostly from South Jakarta Police office, have been deployed to safeguard the inauguration of the newly elected South Tangerang mayor and deputy mayor today, a police official says.

“We are also sending water cannons and barracuda vehicles as extra precautions [to safeguard] the ceremony,” South Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Gatot Edi Purnomo said Wednesday, as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

He added that the police mobile brigade (brimob) would be assigned to guard several key posts during the ceremony. Banten Governor Ratu Atut Chosiah is scheduled to lead the ceremony, with dozens of local officials slated to attend.

Airin Rachmi Diany and Benyamin Davni won the second election by garnering 188,893 votes, or 46.4 percent, winning over the three other candidate pairs including the pair of Arsyid and comedian Andre Taulani. It wasn’t an easy victory for the Airin and Benyamin pair since the results of the initial election were rejected by the Judicial Commission after allegations of misconduct by the winning pair.

Nur Mahmudi begins second term as Depok mayor

Hasyim Widhiarto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 01/26/2011 2:29 PM | Jakarta

Nur Mahmudi Ismail and Idris Abdul Shomad were inaugurated Wednesday as mayor and deputy mayor of Depok, West Java, for the 2011-2016 period.

The pair were inaugurated by West Java Governor Ahmad Heryawan at the Depok council building.

This is Nur Mahmudi’s second term as a Depok mayor, after taking the post with Yuyun Wirasaputra as deputy mayor.

Depok Police chief Sr.Com. Fery Abraham said 400 police officers had been deployed to secure the event, anticipating potential conflicts with supporters of competing candidates in the recent mayoral election.

Minister asked to appoint acting mayor for South Tangerang

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang | Thu, 01/13/2011 10:20 PM | Archipelago

South Tangerang residents have asked Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi to directly appoint an official from the ministry office to replace acting mayor Eutik Suarta, an official at the Banten provincial administration, who will vacate his post on Jan. 24.

“We proposed this to the minister as part of efforts to maintain neutrality in the mayoral election re-run,” former chairman of the South Tangerang Formation Presidium Zarkasih Noor said in a discussion Thursday.

He said he had sent a letter requesting the minister to select a substitute for the acting mayor from the ministry office.

“We want the mayoral election re-run to go smoothly and honestly,” he said.

Agil Novebrianto, a student activist, concurred.

He said it had been proven that the current acting mayor Eutik Suarta failed to show his neutrality in the election process.

The recent South Tangerang election result was annulled by the Constitution Court, which then ordered a re-run next month.