Harjono leads race in Ikadin election
Harjono leads race in Ikadin election
YOGYAKARTA (JP): Incumbent chairman Harjono Tjitrosoebono appears set to be re-elected to the helm of the Indonesian Bar Association (Ikadin), after his strongest challenger, Todung Mulya Lubis, was technically excluded from the race yesterday.
On Wednesday evening, Harjono's camp managed to block an attempt to have the association's statutes revised. The amendment would have made Mulya's election possible within the rules.
As a result, Mulya cannot run in the election, scheduled for today, because the association's statutes require a candidate to have served in an executive capacity in the association and to have practiced law for at least 10 years.
Ironically, Mulya, who was one of the lawyers who founded the association and helped draft its rules, does not meet either requirement.
On Wednesday night, Ikadin's ongoing five-yearly congress turned into a shouting match between the respective supporters of the two leading contenders for the chairmanship. However, there was not a repetition of the fistfight that marred the association's 1990 congress in Jakarta.
In a vote, those opposing an amendment of the association's statutes prevailed.
Mohammad Assegaf, a member of the outgoing executive board, said the rules should be flexible. "After all, the congress should reign supreme over the rules. If the congress wants to change them, it should be allowed to," he said.
While accepting the outcome of the vote, Assegaf proposed a compromise under which Harjono would be re-elected as chairman and Mulya named a member of Ikadin's new executive board.
"Harjono has been the glue that has united Ikadin. But (given his age), he cannot really force himself to run Ikadin. I think it would be wise for us to include someone younger, like Mulya, especially given his progressive and bright thoughts. We must be able to accommodate this," Assegaf added.
Harjono, 71, has led Ikadin since its founding in 1985. The association was formed from a merger of 16 lawyers' associations under a law requiring that professional organizations in each field form a single umbrella group.
Since then, Ikadin has defied the government on various issues and, at the association's 1990 congress, Harjono successfully thwarted an attempt by the government to have its candidate elected.
Although he is technically not eligible to run, it seems there is still a possibility that Mulya will win the election. Harjono has indicated that he will not invoke the statutes should Mulya run and gain a majority of votes.
"If the congress participants still vote for Mulya in the election, then the result should prevail even though it is in violation of the statutes," Harjono said.
The other contenders in today's election are Djohan Djauhari and Soedjono.
Yesterday, the congress saw extensive discussions of the government's proposal for a law regulating the legal profession.
Harjono told The Jakarta Post during a break in the proceedings yesterday that, while he fully endorsed the plan, there must be a guarantee of lawyers' independence.
"It is something like the freedom the press is insisting on. Without independence for lawyers, the legal system is not independent," he said.
Luhut M.P. Pangaribuan, a delegate from Jakarta who works for the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute, agreed that the legislation should guarantee the position, role and independence of those in the legal profession. (har/02)