Jakarta Globe | June 28, 2011
More than a hundred students from various universities in Bogor held a rally in front of the Bogor City Hall in West Java on Tuesday to protest the recent marriage of the city's mayor with a teenager.
Indonesia’s most controversial mayor, Diani Budiarto, 56, has found himself at the center of a new scandal — taking a 19-year-old teenager as his fourth wife.
The Bogor mayor continues to thumb his nose at Indonesian law.
Examples of previous defiance include the mayor's refusal to allow the local GKI Yasmin church to reopen. He contends the church's building permits were forged, even though the Supreme Court sided with the church. Diani also remains married to two other woman, including his first wife, Fauziah, who is currently in hospital.
News about marriage has sparked public outrage, especially among students.
Demonstrators hurled the mayor's office with raw eggs as they shouted, “Say no to polygamy.”
Some of them climbed the City Hall's gate and were attempting break in when security officers stopped them.
The rally leader, Ahmad Hidayat, said Diani has “lost his conscience.”
“He cares more about polygamy than about solving the problems in Bogor,” he was quoted as saying by news portal Detik.com.
The crowd dispersed at noon but threatened a sit-in rally on Wednesday if Diani does not give public clarification of the marriage.
Meanwhile, an official at the Bogor Municipality, Bambang Gunawan, said that Diani is on honeymoon leave.
“He is taking a three-day leave,” Bambang said.
( Counting his eggs to see if he's got them all in one "basket"? siK)
di 28 jun 2011 - 20:59