New attorney general to be announced today

JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid plans to announce the new attorney general on Saturday, who will succeed Baharuddin Lopa who died on Tuesday.

Speaking in a public dialog after Friday prayers in a mosque near his private residence in Ciganjur, South Jakarta, the President declined to identify the new attorney general, but said that the person would be as brave as Lopa.

"Maybe his style is different from Pak Lopa, but they are equal in bravery. What is important is the courage not just smartness. Pak Lopa, of course, was brave and smart," said the President when asked by a visitor about Lopa's successor.

Abdurrahman added that he would summon the candidate immediately after Friday prayers and would force the person to accept the job.

"If he or she does not want the position, then I will use an iron fist. It is now the era (to use an iron fist)," said the President and then laughed.

The incumbent Minister of Justice and Human Rights Marsillam Simanjuntak is tipped to take the new post although he has only held his current position for one month.

A source close to the President confirmed Marsillam's chances.

"There are a lot of candidates, but Marsillam is the strongest one," he said.

Abdurrahman often described Marsillam as one of his toughest and most stubborn friends who often said 'no' to the President.

"I do not know what you are talking about," Marsillam retorted when asked on Thursday about the possibility of him replacing Lopa's position.

The President appointed Vice Attorney General Soeparman as acting attorney general on Monday.

Meanwhile, former minister of maritime affairs and fisheries Sarwono Kusumaatmadja confirmed on Friday that he had turned down the President's offer to rejoin the Cabinet after his dismissal from his post last month.

Sarwono said the President had asked him to replace Mahfud M.D. as minister of defense during a meeting at the Merdeka Palace on Thursday.

"I am not a screw that can be pushed in or pulled out whenever one likes," Sarwono said in press conference at the office of the Public Servants' Wealth Audit Commission (KPKPN).

On Thursday the President summoned Sarwono, former attorney general Marzuki Darusman and Marsillam. Unlike Sarwono, Marzuki agreed to return to the Cabinet as Cabinet secretary.

"The President had dismissed me (from the Cabinet) so why would I still want to rejoin the government. If he still wanted me to serve in his Cabinet, he should not have fired me in the first place," Sarwono said.

After serving as Golkar secretary-general, then president Soeharto promoted Sarwono as state minister of environment and minister of state reforms. His elder brother Mochtar Kusumaatmadja also once served as Soeharto's foreign minister.

"I don't want to speculate on the matter. All I know is that I have told Gus Dur that I don't want to be in the administration anymore," he said when asked about Abdurrahman's reasons for trying to recruit him again.

Sarwono came to KPKPN office to submit his list of assets to the commission. He acknowledged it was too late for him to hand over the list.

"Initially I thought it was unethical to publish the wealth of state officials because it is a private matter. But because it is a legal requirement I have submitted this form," Sarwono said.(emf/prb)