LBH Jakarta seeks new director

JAKARTA: As the three-year tenure of the incumbent director of the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta) will come to an end on Aug. 4, the institute has scheduled an election on July 25 for its new director.

Different from past practice, the election committee is limiting candidates to only member attorneys of LBH Jakarta, committee chairwoman Asfinawati said on Wednesday.

"Due to the financial constraint LBH Jakarta is now facing, the election is more a test to see whether the institute can survive," she said.

The only senior lawyers who qualify for the candidacy are Tubagus Haryo Karbyanto, Mulyadi Goce and incumbent vice director Surya Chandra.

Affiliated with Foundation of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI), whose foreign donors had stopped all financial aid since co-founder Adnan Buyung Nasution took the helm in 2002, LBH Jakarta has lost many legal staff members and employees.

With the departure of incumbent director Irianto Subiakto, only nine lawyers will remain to handle a backlog of thousands of cases filed by the poor.

LBH Jakarta only receives around Rp 1.5 million (US$183) per month from YLBHI to cover its operational costs, far short of its monthly overhead, which can reach more than Rp 5 million. -- JP