Gus Dur wants Benjamin as new Chief Justice

Gus Dur wants Benjamin as new Chief Justice

JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid proposed on Tuesday
National Commission on Human Rights member Benjamin Mangkoedilaga
be named the new chief justice of the Supreme Court.

Addressing a business forum here jointly organized by state-
run radio station RRI and Harvest International, the President
also said he would like to see Antonius Sujata named a national
ombudsman and professor of law J.E. Sahetapy appointed to head up
the proposed National Commission of Law, which would evaluate the
nation's legal products.

Benjamin won nationwide respect as a Jakarta State
Administrative Court judge when he ordered the Ministry of
Information to lift its ban on weekly newsmagazine Tempo.

Although his decision was reversed by the Supreme Court, his
reputation as an honest and courageous judge remained intact.

Despite the President's wishes, the House of Representatives
will appoint the new chief justice to replace Air Vice Marshall
(ret) Sarwata, who has held the post since 1996.

Sahetapy is a professor at Airlangga University's School of
Law and Antonius is a former deputy attorney general of special
crimes.

Antonius was heading the investigation into the alleged
corruption by former president Soeharto when he was fired by then
attorney general A.M. Ghalib in May. Ghalib himself was suspended
a few weeks later for alleged corruption and abuse of power.

Abdurrahman said he hoped Sahetapy and Antonius would lead the
proposed evaluation agency for national legal products, which
would monitor the effectiveness of the country's laws. They also
would have the right to propose changes to the House.

"To establish democracy we have to also establish the rule of
law, because there is no democracy without the rule of law. So
the law is supreme, and the supremacy of the law is guaranteed by
the state," Abdurrahman said.

The President said his government was serious about enforcing
the law and eliminating corruption, collusion and nepotism,
adding that he did not want to repeat the failures of his
predecessors in eradicating rampant corruption.

"That era has ended. Now we are beginning to move into a new
time. (It is) a time of consolidating the gains we have made in
the past, and the consolidation can only come if we can establish
democracy in this country.

"But we will be able to do that. We will be able to overcome
the difficulties and find satisfactory answers. This kind of
belief is the strength of Indonesia," he said.

He added that a strong legal system was needed to ensure the
county's economic recovery and to attract foreign investment.

"There will be surety of law, which is very important in the
world of business," he said. (prn/rms/rei)