Harjono takes top Ikadin post again<\/p>\n
YOGYAKARTA (JP): Incumbent chairman Harjono Tjitrosoebono was
\nre-elected yesterday to lead the Indonesian Bar Association
\n(Ikadin) for a third consecutive five-year term.<\/p>\n
There were no fistfights this time around, in contrast with
\nthe last election five years ago, but the Ikadin congress still
\nleft many delegates with a feeling of bitterness.<\/p>\n
As the congress closed, some delegates were calling for the
\nexpulsion of Todung Mulya Lubis, Harjono's closest rival in the
\nrace, for his remarks denouncing the congress as \"undemocratic\".<\/p>\n
The election's outcome was already determined on Thursday when
\nthe congress insisted that any candidate must have served in an
\nexecutive position and have practiced as a lawyer for 10 years.<\/p>\n
This precluded Mulya from running for the chairmanship.<\/p>\n
Thus, yesterday's election was a mere formality. Harjono won
\n167 votes, well ahead of other candidates Djohan Djauhari, who
\ngarnered 139 votes, and Maruli Simorangkir, who gained 91 votes.
\nDjohan had served as secretary-general on the outgoing Ikadin
\nexecutive board and Maruli was its deputy chairman.<\/p>\n
The plenary session for the election was led by Maruli, who
\nwas the chairman of the steering committee. All the 30 branches
\nof Ikadin were represented in the election.<\/p>\n
Ikadin's in-house rules originally should have precluded
\nHarjono's re-election, since they state that a chairman can only
\nserve for one five-year term. However, the congress agreed to
\ndisregard that rule.<\/p>\n
Harjono's reelection is in defiance of the government's recent
\ncall for Ikadin to \"rejuvenate\" its leadership. Harjono, 71 years
\nold, has been credited with maintaining Ikadin's independence
\nfrom the government.<\/p>\n
\"I am emotionally touched by the congress' confidence in me to
\nlead Ikadin once again,\" Harjono said after his reelection. \"The
\ncongress has been run in a democratic fashion. No one comes out a
\nwinner or a loser,\" he added.<\/p>\n
He called on all parties not to harbor ill feelings in spite
\nof the fierce contest in the election.<\/p>\n
The tone of some of the other delegates to the congress was
\nfar less conciliatory.<\/p>\n
Henry Yosodiningrat and Tumbu Saraswati, two respected Jakarta
\nlawyers, said Mulya had denigrated the good name of Ikadin when
\nhe called the congress \"undemocratic\".<\/p>\n
Tumbu, who heads Ikadin's South Jakarta chapter, where Mulya
\nis registered, said she would summon Mulya and reprimand him. She
\nsaid she might even dismiss him from the lawyers' organization.<\/p>\n
A clearly angry Mulya called a press conference on Thursday to
\nannounce the withdrawal of his candidacy in the election, which
\nhe said was a farce.<\/p>\n
Mulya said his opponents had resorted to cheap tricks by
\ndescribing him as a government candidate or alleging that he was
\nbuying votes.<\/p>\n
\"The climate in Ikadin is not healthy. Democratic values have
\nbeen defeated to serve the interests of a certain group and
\nambitious individuals,\" Mulya said.<\/p>\n
Other delegates, meanwhile, called on Harjono to heed the
\nappeals to rejuvenate Ikadin's leadership.<\/p>\n
\"Harjono has been validly and democratically been elected.
\nThere was no outside pressure during the congress,\" Luhut M.P.
\nPangaribuan, chairman of the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute, told
\nThe Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Luhut said, however, that Ikadin needs to have new blood and
\nthat the congress had failed to infuse it.<\/p>\n
He also suggested that, besides including younger lawyers on
\nthe new board, Harjono should also recruit women to the board.<\/p>\n
In his inauguration speech after the election, Harjono
\noutlined some of the programs he plans to carry out.<\/p>\n
One of these is to prepare Indonesian lawyers to deal with the
\ntrade liberalization moves which would allow foreign lawyers to
\ncompete on Indonesian soil. \"We need to protect our members from
\na foreign lawyers' invasion,\" he said. (02\/har\/imn)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/harjono-takes-top-ikadin-post-again-1447893297",
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