The chicken has been fried: Ghalib<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Attorney General Lt. Gen. Andi Muhammad Ghalib
\nbecame the star of the cabinet meeting on Wednesday when his
\ncolleagues and even President B.J. Habibie asked him what he had
\ndone with a chicken he received from protesting students one day
\nearlier.<\/p>\n
The fate of the chicken became a hot issue before and during
\nthe six-hour cabinet meeting. The President and ministers burst
\ninto laughter when Ghalib gave them the details about the hen.<\/p>\n
\"It's been fried and finished Pak,\" he replied when Armed
\nForces (ABRI) Commander Gen. Wiranto jokingly asked for a piece
\nof the fowl.<\/p>\n
Outraged students presented a chicken to Ghalib on Tuesday
\nafter he turned down their demand to set a deadline for the
\ninvestigation of former president Soeharto's wealth. Calling
\nGhalib a hen rather than a tiger, students told him that he had
\nbeen acting more as Soeharto's defense lawyer than an
\ninvestigative chief.<\/p>\n
Minister of Industry and Trade Rahardi Ramelan joked that the
\nchicken must be delicious because it was presented by pretty
\nfemale students.<\/p>\n
\"Ministers are expected to be strong. This is a part of our
\nstruggle,\" the President was quoted by Minister of Information
\nMuhammad Yunus as saying in an attempt to console Ghalib.<\/p>\n
According to a palace official, Habibie clamped his hands to
\nhis mouth trying to smother his laughter, but eventually failed.<\/p>\n
\"The President tried not to offend Pak Ghalib,\" said the
\nsmiling official.<\/p>\n
Later Ghalib told journalists that his staff members had
\nroasted the chicken at the office. He said they did not give him
\na piece.<\/p>\n
\"They did not even give me a single piece,\" Ghalib said.<\/p>\n
Ghalib said he was not insulted by the students, and that he
\ncould understand their frustration and impatience with the legal
\nmachineries deployed in the investigation.<\/p>\n
\"They are also my children,\" he said seriously.<\/p>\n
\"I was not prepared at all for the gift,\" he told State
\nMinister of State Enterprises Tanri Abeng who stood next to him.<\/p>\n
Ghalib had once compared his investigation into Soeharto's
\nalleged fortune to police investigations into chicken theft.<\/p>\n
\"Police can not arrest a thief when they can not present the
\nstolen chicken as an evidence,\" he said last month. (prb)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/the-chicken-has-been-fried-ghalib-1447893297",
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