Slamet Suryanto (1 November 1944 – 3 April 2018) was an

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

politician who served as the mayor of

Surakarta Surakarta (Javanese script, Javanese: , Pegon script, Pegon: ), known colloquially as Solo (Javanese script, Javanese: ; ), is a major List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, city in Central Java, Indonesia. The city adjoins Karanganyar Reg ...

between 2000 and 2005. Having been elected member of Surakarta's city council by 1985, he also served a year at the

People's Representative Council The House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia (, DPR-RI or simply DPR) is one of two elected chambers of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), the national legislature of Indonesia. It is considered the lower house, while th ...

before becoming

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

. He would lose his re-election to

Joko Widodo Joko Widodo (; born 21 June 1961), often known mononymously as Jokowi, is an Indonesian politician, engineer, and businessman who served as the seventh president of Indonesia from 2014 to 2024. Previously a member of the Indonesian Democratic ...

, and get convicted of corruption. He died in 2018 due to

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

Early life

He was born in

Ponorogo Ponorogo Regency (; ) is an inland Regency (Indonesia), regency () of East Java Province of Indonesia. It is considered the birthplace of Reog, Reog Ponorogo, a traditional Indonesian dance form. The regency covers an area of , and it had a popu ...

on 1 November 1944, during the

Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies The Empire of Japan occupied the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) during World War II from March 1942 until after the end of the war in September 1945. In May 1940, Germany German invasion of the Netherlands, occupied the Netherlands, and ma ...

. He later studied at Surakarta's state-funded educational institute (IKIP Negeri Surakarta), graduating in 1970. He later studied at

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

's National Defense Institute (Lemhanas) in 2001.

Career

He had led the Banjarsari subdistrict office of

PDI-P The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (, PDI-P) is a centre to centre-left secular-nationalist political party in Indonesia. Since 2014, it has been the ruling and largest party in the House of Representatives (DPR), having won 110 seats ...

as early as 1980, with him being elected to the city council in 1985 and becoming the party's head for the city in 1999. According to F.X. Hadi Rudyatmo, Suryanto had strongly defended

Megawati Sukarnoputri Diah Permata Megawati Setiawati Sukarnoputri (; born 23 January 1947) is an Indonesian politician who served as the fifth president of Indonesia from 2001 to 2004 and the eighth vice president under President Abdurrahman Wahid from 1999 to 200 ...

during a schism of the

Indonesian Democratic Party The Indonesian Democratic Party (, PDI) was a political party in Indonesia which existed from 1973 to 2003. During the New Order era, the PDI was one of the two state-approved parties, the other being the Islam-based United Development Part ...

. Later, he was elected to the

in the 1999 election, though he resigned after just one year. He ran for mayor of

in 2000. Despite being a popular figure there, he could not secure an endorsement from

city councilors, with only 9 of 23 backing him (executive elections prior to 2004 were done by legislators and not through a popular vote). However, he managed to convince other members of the council, including his later-deputy J. Soeprapto, to support him, and hence secured the mayoral seat. During his time as mayor, he reconstructed Surakarta's city hall, which was burnt down in 1999 by a mob following Megawati's defeat in the 1999 presidential vote. He became a suspect of a corruption case in 2004 for three projects rife with fake/manipulated budgets, including the city hall's construction. In 2005, Suryanto failed to secure the endorsement of

for his reelection, who instead had supported the

/ F.X. Hadi Rudyatmo ticket. Suryanto ran anyway, with the support of a coalition of minor parties. For this action, he was penalized by PDI-P. He lost in the election, only winning about 5 percent of votes with Widodo coming on top with around 35 percent. After his defeat, he was sentenced to 15 months in prison for the city hall's graft case in January 2007. Although the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

upheld the decision in July 2008, further prosecution of his cases was postponed in 2010 due to his deteriorating health.

Death

He died on 3 April 2018, at around 19:00 local time, due to

. He was laid in state at the Surakarta City Hall prior to him being buried in Banjarsari's Bonoloyo funeral.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Suryanto, Slamet 1944 births 2018 deaths 20th-century mayors of places in Indonesia 21st-century mayors of places in Indonesia People from Ponorogo Regency People from Surakarta Politicians from Central Java Mayors of Surakarta Indonesian politicians convicted of corruption Members of the House of Representatives (Indonesia), 1999 Members of the Surakarta City Regional House of Representatives