New attorney general to be announced today

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)