Bambang agrees to lead Indonesian Legal Aid body
Bambang agrees to lead Indonesian Legal Aid body
JAKARTA (JP): Lawyer Bambang Widjojanto formally accepted his appointment to head the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation with a pledge to give the organization's regional offices a greater say in running their own affairs.
"We will pay more attention to the development of regional offices," Bambang told reporters at YLBHI headquarters shortly after he delivered his letter of acceptance to Aswab Mahasin, the secretary of the foundation's Board of Trustees, at the latter's residence in Tebet, South Jakarta.
In the letter, he said he sought more time to form his executive board, which he hoped would see an increased representation by people from the provinces.
Bambang, 36, beat more senior and no less experienced candidates in the election by the 19 members of the Board of Trustees early this month. Many of the trustees said Bambang had strong support from YLBHI offices all over the country.
The mechanism of his election however has been widely criticized by a number of senior YLBHI staffers and some have joined forces to denounce his appointment and form a federation "to save YLBHI from disintegrating."
A relative newcomer to the YLBHI board, Bambang established himself in the organization when he headed the Legal Aid Institute in Jayapura, during which time he also received the prestigious Robert Kennedy Award for his tireless campaign to promote human rights in Irian Jaya.
Yesterday Bambang said one of the main programs of his leadership will be to prepare for the decentralization of the organization, a long-standing item on YLBHI's agenda.
Details
He declined to give details about the possible line up of his executive board but did not rule out the possibility of including more figures from the regions.
He said he had also approached a number of senior YLBHI staffers who are opposed to his appointment.
Bambang ruled out major changes during his chairmanship, underlining that he has been given a mandate to lead for only 18 months, which is the end of his predecessor's, Adnan Buyung Nasution, term of office. Adnan resigned last October.
Meanwhile Mulyana W. Kusumah, one of the losing candidates, yesterday defended the decision by him and other dissenters to form a federation within the foundation.
Mulyana told reporters that the federation's job is to run the day-to-day operation of the organization and therefore does not need the permission or consent of the board of trustees.
Some of the trustees have said that the federation goes against YLBHI's statutes and therefore its proponents are liable to face sanctions.
Mulyana, together with five other losing candidates -- Luhut M.P Pangaribuan, H.J.C. Princen, Amartiwi Saleh, Hendardi and Rambun Tjayo -- and representatives of regional offices in Jakarta, Bandung, Yogyakarta, Semarang, Bandar Lampung and Ujungpandang, established the federation immediately after the board of trustees disclosed the result of the election last Tuesday. (imn)