Rift over selection of Chief Justice continues

JAKARTA (JP): House of Representative's Commission II on Legal and Home Affairs decided on Tuesday to keep the two candidates previously proposed for the Chief Justice post and suggested a dialog between the House speaker and President to solve the long- standing dispute.

"In a bid to find a solution, Commission II recommended a dialog between the President, the House speaker and faction chairmen to end the difference of opinion," Chairman of Commission II Amin Aryoso told journalists.

He emphasized that Commission II would not reexamine or have further discussions about the two candidates as the original selection had been decided democratically through appropriate procedures.

"We appreciate the decision that obligates us to reexamine the two candidates, but we feel that we are not in the position to do so. So it is up to the House top brass now," Amin remarked.

Commission II member, Idrus Markam, told journalists the House speaker should demand President Abdurrahman Wahid choose one of the two candidates, as it was written in the constitution.

"It is clear that the President has a constitutional obligation to choose one of the two candidates or he can be considered in violation of the law, so the House speaker should demand the President do so," Idrus remarked.

Last week, House Speaker Akbar Tandjung said that the House Consultative Body (Bamus) had decided that the selection of candidates for the Chief Justice post be reviewed by Commission II to find a solution to the impasse with Abdurrahman.

The month-long dispute developed after members of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) walked out during the plenary session on Dec. 7 when former justice minister Muladi and legal expert Bagir Manan were officially nominated as chief justice candidates.

Muladi served as justice minister in the last Cabinet of former president Soeharto and remained in the post under Soeharto's successor, B.J. Habibie.

Bagir Manan, a law professor at state Padjadjaran University in Bandung, West Java, also served Soeharto as a director general of the justice ministry in the 1990s.

Abdurrahman has rejected both nominees claiming that both candidates were known to be loyal to the New Order regime and to be partisan. He then gave the mandate to appoint a chief justice to Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri.

But, Megawati turned down the President's mandate and returned the responsibility to him.

Separately, 48 supreme court justices -- including Muladi and Bagir Manan -- issued a formal statement of concern on Tuesday, urging the President and the House to solve the dispute as soon as possible.

One of the justices, Paulus Effendi Lotulung, stated that the justices demanded both state agencies respect the regulation on the chief justice's election.

"The statement is just an initial step to face the absence of chief justice of the Supreme Court," he remarked as quoted by detik.com. (dja)