Gus Dur to meet House on chief justice veto<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Presidential spokesman Wimar Witoelar said on
\nSaturday that the government will officially convey its rejection
\nof Muladi and Bagir Manan as the Supreme Court chief justice
\ncandidates, and that the President would not compromise his
\nprinciples for the sake of political expediency.<\/p>\n
Speaking to journalists at a hastily called briefing, Wimar
\nsaid the President, accompanied by Vice President Megawati
\nSoekarnoputri, would meet with the House of Representatives in
\nJanuary to formally convey his rejection of the two candidates
\nwhich were submitted by the House.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman had earlier revealed that he did not have a green
\nlight from Megawati to endorse either Muladi or Bagir Manan and
\nshe, therefore, has been instructed to look for alternative
\ncandidates for the Supreme Court position.<\/p>\n
The House has thus far insisted Abdurrahman choose between
\nMuladi, who was justice minister under former president B.J.
\nHabibie, and Bagir Manan, Muladi's former subordinate, for the
\npost.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman has said that both men were \"loyal to the New
\nOrder and to be partisan\".<\/p>\n
The President also created controversy on Friday when he
\naccused House Speaker Akbar Tandjung of saying that Abdurrahman,
\nduring a meeting here on Thursday evening, had agreed that one of
\nthe two nominated candidates would be selected.<\/p>\n
Akbar was quick to deny the accusation on Saturday saying that
\n\"false information has been given to the President\".<\/p>\n
\"I swear to God that I never said that Gus Dur agreed to
\nchoose between Muladi or Bagir Manan to be the Supreme Court
\nchief,\" Akbar told a media conference, held an hour before
\nWimar's briefing.<\/p>\n
Wimar later said that \"it will be too unproductive\" to
\ncontinue the controversy.<\/p>\n
\"The President said that he doesn't want to continue the
\ndebate but wants to return to the core of the problem: that the
\ncurrent candidates are totally unacceptable to both the President
\nand Vice President,\" Wimar said.<\/p>\n
Attorney General Marzuki Darusman and Foreign Minister Alwi
\nShihab also attended the meeting on Thursday, Wimar said.<\/p>\n
Wimar implied that some parties may have been trying to seek a
\ncompromise with the President during the meeting.<\/p>\n
He insisted that the government would not \"acquiesce to
\ntemptations\" of being engaged in \"political expediency\" between
\nthe government and the House.<\/p>\n
By law, the President has the right to select or reject any of
\nthe names proposed to him by the House.(02\/byg)<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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