President not glad with Supreme Court nominees

President not glad with Supreme Court nominees

JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid is "not
enthusiastic" about the House of Representatives' nominations of
Muladi and Bagir Manan as the candidates for the Supreme Court
chief, presidential spokesman Wimar Witoelar revealed on Monday.

"The President is not enthusiastic about candidates for the
chief justice of the Supreme Court who are known to be loyal to
the New Order and to be partisan," Wimar told The Jakarta Post in
a telephone interview.

"So when the time comes for the official decision, it will
probably be according to that view," he said adding that
Abdurrahman "will be inclined to say 'no' when the official
letter comes requesting (the president's decision on the
matter)".

Wimar also said "the President had already expressed this
opinion three weeks ago".

"His opinion is mainly expressed to calm people worried that
we might be caught off guard by letting people from the New Order
into the Supreme Court," Wimar said.

The House, after long and tedious debate, decided last
Thursday to endorse the candidacy of Muladi and Bagir Manan for
the top job at the Supreme Court.

Legislators from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle
(PDI Perjuangan) faction walked out of the House plenary meeting
that certified the nominations.

They claimed that both Muladi and Bagir Manan did not meet the
requirements set by their faction, which included personal
integrity and honesty.

Muladi was justice minister under former president Soeharto
and minister/state secretary under Soeharto's successor B.J.
Habibie, while Bagir Manan is a law professor at Padjadjaran
University in Bandung, West Java.

By law, the President has the right to select or reject any of
the names proposed to him by the House.

Wimar said "it will be up to the legislature to propose
(other) names for the President to consider".

"That is what is being studied ... what is the mechanism in
case there is a possibility of considering other names. But
nothing is definite at this point because we have to conform to
procedures," Wimar said.

Abdurrahman has repeatedly said that his personal choice for
the Supreme Court chief is former judge Benjamin Mangkoedilaga.

Benjamin was on the list of six final candidates for the
Supreme Court chief but failed to pass the final selection
process by House Commission II for home and legal affairs.

Benjamin made headlines in 1995 when he ruled against the
government's decision to shut down the Tempo news weekly. A
ruling in defiance of the government's wishes was unprecedented
at the time.

Tempo eventually lost the case when the Supreme Court ruled in
favor of the closure ordered by the information ministry. (byg)