Last Will and Text Message
The effort to make Tapanuli a province led to a tragedy. With three factions in the legislature opposing it, proponents carried out high-level lobbying that involved key people in Jakarta.
February 10, 2009
THE text message from the cellphone of Abdul Aziz Angkat, Speaker of the North Sumatra Regional House of Representatives (DPRD) was ominous. Sent to Syahdan Saputra, the North Sumatra Golkar Party deputy head, it read: “Don’t leave me alone here. They’re coming in.” According to Syahdan, Aziz sent the message on Tuesday morning last week, before he presided over a plenary session.
A thousand or so people had gathered at Jalan Imam Bonjol
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