Muladi urged to notify House on his exit plan

Muladi urged to notify House on his exit plan

JAKARTA (JP): House Speaker Akbar Tandjung on Monday urged
former justice minister Muladi to submit an official notification
to the legislative body if he was serious about pulling out of
his controversial candidacy for the top post in the Supreme
Court.

"Muladi should officially notify the House which has nominated
him along with Bagir Manan if he has personally decided to
withdraw his candidacy. It's his responsibility to do so," Akbar
said.

Akbar said he met Muladi just a few days ago, but the latter
said nothing firm about withdrawing his candidacy.

"He hinted that there should be a solution to his
controversial candidacy and it would be better for the House to
drop his nomination," he said.

Muladi has reportedly withdrawn his nomination in frustration
of the uncertainty surrounding the nomination which has been
suspended for several months.

President Abdurrahman Wahid has declined to appoint either
Muladi or constitutional law expert Bagir Manan as chief justice.
Both were nominated after gaining backing from a majority of the
House.

One of the reasons the President gave for his refusal to
appoint either of them was due to their past links with the New
Order regime.

Muladi was minister during both former President Soeharto and
B.J. Habibie's tenure, while Bagir held a senior government post
during the Soeharto years.

The President has indicated several times that he would prefer
Justice Benyamin Mangkudilaga to be appointed chief justice.

Ferry Mursidan Baldan, deputy chairman of the House's
commission which screened chief justice candidates, said he could
understand Muladi's frustration because of certain sides'
"political slaughter" of his nomination.

"Muladi has the right to withdraw his nomination after
learning that he is a victim of certain sides' political
slaughtering. And it's better for him to officially notify the
House's leadership if he decides to resign from his nomination,"
he said.

Syamsul Muarif, chairman of the Golkar Party faction at the
House, described Muladi's move as a moral decision, saying he
would have taken the same step too, if he were Muladi.

"Muladi will win public empathy with his decision because he
is showing the public that he is not overambitious of the
position," he said.

Jacob Tobing, a member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) faction, concurred and said his faction
is likely accept the outcome if the President appoints Bagir as a
new chief justice.

"Compared to Muladi, Bagir is much better because he was not a
'yes man' official when he was director general at the Ministry
of Justice during Soeharto's tenure," he said.

Jacob hinted that the House should nominate other candidates
if Bagir decides to follow Muladi in withdrawing his nomination.

Meanwhile, both Jacob and Syamsul dismissed the President's
statement that the rift among the political elite would subside
in April, saying the President was facing a serious leadership
crisis.

Both were of the same opinion that the political conflict
would only end if the President stepped down voluntarily and hand
over power to Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri.

"The political situation will remain unstable as long as Gus
Dur goes ahead in the present manner in which he is leading the
nation and running the government," said Jacob.

Syamsul said the President has yet to make alterations to the
government following his censure by the House on Feb. 1.

"Our faction will propose the issuance of a second memorandum
for the President because so far, the President has made no
changes to his government," he said.(dja/rms)