West Sumatra Governor Mahyeldi Rejects Signing Documents For Demonstrators Of Bangis Water Citizens, This Is The Provincial Government's Explanation

Head of the Regional Government and Autonomy Bureau of the West Sumatra Provincial Secretariat, Doni Rahmat Samulo, said that the Governor could not sign a document carelessly, especially regarding policies that were not his authority.

"To determine or sign a document, the governor observes the provisions of Article 10 paragraph (1) and Article 52 paragraph (2) of Law Number 30 of 2014 concerning Government Administration," he said in Padang as reported by ANTARA, Thursday, August 3.

This is related to the demands of the students and the people of Air Bangis, West Pasaman, who asked the Governor to sign certain documents during a demonstration in front of the local governor's office from Monday (31/7) to Thursday (3/8).

Doni said that Law 30 of 2014 mandates the legality of the government's decision based on the provisions of the laws and regulations and general principles of good governance.

He explained that the principle of accuracy is one of the principles in the general principles of good governance which means a decision and/or action must be based on complete information and documents to support the legality of the determination and/or implementation of decisions and/or actions so that the decisions and/or actions concerned are carefully prepared before the decision and/or action is determined and/or taken.

Doni said that to be able to sign the documents requested by the protesters, they had to go through a series of processes to ensure the document did not conflict with applicable regulations.

"So the governor's refusal to sign was not because he did not empathize with protesters, but because of the laws and regulations that made the governor unable to arbitrarily give signatures," he said.

Moreover, if in the points of the document there are things that are not under the authority of the Governor, then it is impossible to sign them because there will be rules that will be violated.

Doni hopes that the protesters, especially students who are the younger generation who should have extensive knowledge and understanding, can understand the governor's position.

Previously, the Governor of West Sumatra, Mahyeldi during the morning prayer at the Grand Mosque of West Sumatra, met the protesters who had been staying at the mosque for three days.

During the meeting, the Governor listened and accepted the aspirations of the Air Bangis community regarding the demonstrations they had held in the last three days. He said he would try to help resolve problems according to the applicable authorities and regulations.

The governor said that his party would coordinate with the West Sumatra Police to ensure the safety of the Air Bangis community while in Padang or when they wanted to return to their village.