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)