Suryo Bambang Sulistio Elected as Kadin Chairman

(News Today) - After a tough competition process, Suryo Bambang Sulisto, 63, finally won the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin)’s chairmanship post on Saturday night. Sulisto won the second round of voting after defeating Wishnu Wardhana, 40.

Before contesting for the organization’s top chairmanship post election at the seventh national congress here, he had been active in the chambers’ executive board of the 2008-2010 term. At that time, Sulisto was chairman of Kadin Indonesia’s advisory council.

In the first round of vote, Suryo Bambang Sulisto grabbed 51 votes, Adi Putra Dharmawan Tahir eight votes, Chris Kanter (15), Sandiaga Salahhuddin Uno (22), and Wishnu Wardhana (33). Due to the fact that none of those candidates gained more than 50 percent of votes, the congress meeting’s chairman, Adri Istambul L.G, decided to hold the second round.

The final voting was only participated in by Sulisto and Wardhana whose fates were decided by representatives of 99 Kadin Indonesia’s regional chapters and 30 representatives of associations and the chambers’ extraordinary members. The first round of voting was not smooth enough because a number of congress participants repeatedly interrupted the meeting process.

The repeated interruptions were firstly triggered by the acts of a congress’ observer named Jon. He strongly disagreed with what he said as strict rules for writing candidate’s name on ballot paper.

Jon then questioned the rules but his acts had sparked interruptions and a bitter debate among the participants. Due to the heating situation, the meeting’s chairman, Adri Istambul L.G decided to stop the meeting for a few minutes and called the candidates and congress committee members.

He also clarified the rules and way of writing the candidate’s name on the ballot paper. His explanation was well understood.

At the congress’ opening session on Friday, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had expected the chambers’ top chairmanship election process to be held fairly, democratically, and peacefully. The elected chairman should also be the one who could meet the interests of Kadin Indonesia and provide business community members with greater business opportunities and brighter future, he said.

In his speech, President Yudhoyono also extended his special thanks and appreciation to Kadin Indonesia for its close cooperation with the government during the 2008 global financial crisis.The government and Kadin Indonesia’s partnership should remain sound and strong so that both could deal with the complexities of the country’s and world’s economy, he said.

Source : kompas

Posted in: