Sutiyoso

Sutiyoso (born 6 December 1944 in Semarang, Central Java) is an Indonesian politician and former general. Known informally as 'Bang Yos', he was the governor of Jakarta, the country's capital, during a turbulent period from 1997 to 7 October 2007. During this time there was a total of five presidents in Indonesia (Suharto, Habibie, Gus Dur Wahid, Megawati, and SBY). The transitions between presidents were often accompanied by much turmoil and disturbance in the streets of Jakarta. Sutiyoso also served as chairman of the Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) for the period 2004-2008.

He is particularly known for his work in supporting the introduction, in early 2004, of the TransJakarta, a bus rapid transit system, in Jakarta. It is widely agreed that better public transport arrangements are badly needed in Jakarta so the introduction of the TransJakarta system was seen as an important initiative. However it has not proved easy to ensure that the TransJakarta bus system works well so the arrangements are currently regarded as being of mixed success.

On October 1, 2007, Sutiyoso announced he was standing for the presidency of Indonesia in the 2009 election. He also said that he would welcome support from political parties and promised that he would not establish his own political party to support his nomination. He failed in his bid but retained interest in the possibility of running for president again, saying in mid-2010 that he would be available to contest the 2014 presidential elections if he could muster enough political support.