PDI-P denies supporting Muladi, Bagir Manan
JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) faction at the House of Representatives made a surprising move on Wednesday, denying responsibility in the latest controversy of the Supreme Court chief election.
Secretary of the PDI Perjuangan faction, Heri Achmadi, said his faction had never issued a statement which supported the nomination of Muladi and Bagir Manan.
He accused the press of having manipulated the decision made by the House's Commission II on Legal and Home Affairs, which had been authorized to select the chief justice candidates.
"The press reports saying that PDI Perjuangan faction supports Muladi and Bagir Manan are not true," Heri told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, two PDI Perjuangan representatives at Commission II, V.B. da Costa and Panda Nababan, accused Ferry Mursyidan Baldan, deputy chairman of the commission, of manipulating its recommendation.
"Besides revealing the results of the closed-door meeting to the press, he also manipulated the recommendation of Commission II.
"The Commission has recommended that the House Speaker, along with faction chairmen, consult with the President to rediscuss the two candidates nomination," da Costa said in an emotional tone.
Panda similarly said that Ferry had manipulated the commission's recommendation in his attempt to win the House's supports for the two candidates.
Amien Aryoso, a PDI Perjuangan legislator and chairman of Commission II, said he had never stated that his commission supported the two candidates and rejected seeking other candidates.
"When we (Commission II members) discussed the two candidates nomination on Tuesday, the commission eventually agreed to recommend that the House leadership consult with the President to rediscuss the matter," he said.
Aryoso's statement on Wednesday, however, was contradictory to his previous statement on Tuesday when he, as chairman of the commission, announced that the commission would neither reexamine nor have further discussions about the two candidates as the original selection had been decided democratically through appropriate procedures.
Meanwhile, Abdul Khaliq Achmad, secretary of the National Awakening Party (PKB) faction, said representatives of the faction in the commission had agreed to renominate Muladi and Bagir Manan as it was decided by the commission.
"However, the commission's decision is not binding as the final decision will be made in the next House plenary session," he said.
He asserted that his faction would give its weight to the two candidates if both won support from other factions.
"The President declined to use his prerogative to appoint one of the two candidates because both failed to win the support of all factions.
"That's why our faction abstained when both names were brought to a plenary session last month," Achmad said.
Almost all members of the PDI Perjuangan faction walked out of the plenary session discussing the nomination of Muladi and Bagir last month. Meanwhile, President Abdurrahman Wahid rejected both names last month and shifted the responsibility to appoint the chief justice to Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri.
But, Megawati turned down the mandate and returned it to the President.
Separately, Bagir Manan said on Wednesday that he personally would not withdraw from the chief justice nomination although the President had rejected both himself and Muladi.
"I'll just wait for the decision of the House and the President. I didn't nominate myself, so I'm not responsible for what is happening now," he told reporters in Bandung.
Bagir, however, called on legislative and executive bodies not to prolong the dispute, saying that the vacancy of the Supreme Court's leading position would disturb the Court's ability to reform the legal institution.
"Legal reforms cannot be done without the presence of the chief justice," he said. (01/25/rms/imn)