Munarman elected YLBHI top executive
Munarman elected YLBHI top executive
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
After nine months without a permanent director, the Indonesian
Legal Aid Institute Foundation (YLBHI) elected on Tuesday
Munarman its top executive.
Munarman, who formerly headed the Commission for Missing
Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), pledged to consolidate
the foundation members as his first move.
Of 23 electors, who are members of the foundation's
supervisory board, 17 voted for Munarman, who is the current
YLBHI coordinator of civil and political division. Munarman beat
colleague Daniel Panjaitan, the deputy director of the Jakarta
Legal Aid Institute as the only other contender in the election.
Munarman and the foundation's board of executives will be
sworn in on Oct. 2.
YLBHI co-founder and chairman of the supervisory board, Adnan
Buyung Nasution, expressed hope that the new executives would
improve the organization's achievement in promoting human rights
and democracy.
Buyung said the foundation had run out steam in conducting its
mission due to internal rifts and the large amount of non-
governmental institutions with identical activities.
The board of trustees, now the supervisory board, dismissed
the last director Bambang Widjojanto last December for his
alleged indecent proposal to reform the foundation into a more
populist association and to reduce the authority of the patrons
sitting on the board of trustees.
Bambang's motion was sparked by a move of senior members who
swapped positions in a bid to maintain their power in the name of
"professionalism".
Adnan has been criticized for defending senior military
officers implicated in gross human rights violations in East
Timor in 1999.
At that time Adnan denied any bickering in the foundation and
argued that the dismissal was aimed at giving opportunities for
new faces since Bambang had reached the end of a five-year
tenure.
Bambang's exit followed the resignation of vice chairman
Munir.
A caretaker team, comprising Irianto Subiakto, Mappinawang and
Haneda Srilastoto, was named to run the organization and to
prepare for the election which was originally slated for July.
Such an abrupt move by the board of trustees sparked criticism
from the members, with Munarman becoming the most outspoken
critic, and it almost cost him his position on the executive
board.
Munarman, who was once the director of the YLBHI office in
Aceh, appeared confident during the public debates held earlier
on Tuesday morning.
"To build democracy, we should seek out our foes, but make
friends... The differences among us are part of our tradition.
YLBHI will never be broken down because of differences," he said
in the debate.