PDI-P denies supporting Muladi, Bagir Manan
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)