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)