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Muladi has reportedly withdrawn his nomination in frustration of the uncertainty surrounding the nomination which has been suspended for several months.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