No plan to replace Rachman: Mega<\/p>\n
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Despite corruption allegations against him, Attorney General M.A.
\nRachman is likely to keep his post, at least for now, as
\nPresident Megawati Soekarnoputri has decided to turn a deaf ear
\nto public demands for her hand-picked chief prosecutor to be
\nreplaced.<\/p>\n
Megawati, speaking to a delegation from the Indonesian Muslim
\nStudents Association (PMMI), said on Monday that she had no plans
\nto replace Attorney General Rachman, whose assets were intensely
\ninvestigated by the Public Servants' Wealth Audit Commission
\n(KPKPN), for allegedly concealing his wealth.<\/p>\n
\"The Attorney General will not be replaced because even if he
\nis replaced there will be no assurance for any better law
\nenforcement,\" Megawati was quoted by PMII chairman Nusron Wahid
\nas saying.<\/p>\n
Rachman has come under fire for allegedly not reporting his
\nwealth -- namely a house worth billions of rupiah, two cars and a
\nRp 800 million time deposit account -- to KPKPN, a committee in
\ncharge of auditing the wealth of civil servants and high-ranking
\nstate officials for possible corruption practices.<\/p>\n
In the course of the investigation, Rachman had given
\nconflicting statements, prompting anticorruption campaigners and
\ncivil society groups to call for his replacement.<\/p>\n
Rachman's aide Kito Irkamini told KPKPN that he helped Rachman
\ntransfer the ownership of a luxury house in Graha Cinere, Depok,
\nworth Rp 1.8 billion (US$200,000) to his eldest daughter
\nChairunnisa.<\/p>\n
To the commission, Rachman said that the house belonged to his
\ndaughter since July 2001 and he repeatedly changed his statements
\nregarding the financial sources to buy such a luxurious house.<\/p>\n
Rachman also changed his explanation on his Rp 800 million
\ntime deposit. First he said the money came from a consultancy
\nservice offered to a businessman in East Java, but in his latest
\nstatement submitted to KPKPN he said that the money came from
\naccumulation of his travel allowance for more than 37 years as a
\nstate prosecutor.<\/p>\n
Rachman, according to non-governmental organizations, has lost
\nhis moral authority to lead the country's fight against
\ncorruption.<\/p>\n
Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI
\nPerjuangan) joined in the calls for her to find a new attorney
\ngeneral.<\/p>\n
But according to Megawati, replacing Rachman would make no
\ndifference to law enforcement in the country.<\/p>\n
According to Megawati, negative reports about Rachman were
\nnothing more than political maneuvers from certain groups, not a
\nsincere attempt to uphold the law.<\/p>\n
\"The President said that all of those reports against Rachman
\nwere merely political maneuvers and not because of the fight
\nagainst corruption,\" Nusron said.<\/p>\n
Nusron said the President claimed to have urged Rachman to
\nmove forward with several corruption cases in the country to
\nsettle them soon.<\/p>\n
\"She said that she had ordered Rachman to quickly settle many
\ncorruption cases as part of the government's commitment to
\nfighting such practices,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Her final decision on the matter, which came on the same day
\nthat news about her new villa in Sentul, West Java broke out, has
\ndealt a serious blow to all those opposed to the attorney
\ngeneral's replacement, although it is doubtful that they will
\nremain silent.<\/p>\n
When asked whether PMII was satisfied with the President's
\nstatement regarding the decision on Rachman, Nusron replied: \"Of
\ncourse not, but it was the President's answer.\"<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/no-plan-to-replace-rachman-mega-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}