YLBHI caretakers set up

JAKARTA: The Foundation of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI) has established a caretaker team to prepare for the election of its executive board members within six months.

Expanding the membership of the YLBHI board of patrons and establishing the supervisory board are also part of the caretakers' job, said caretaker chairman Irianto Subiyakto on Tuesday.

Key members of the caretaker team include Irianto, Haneda Srilastoto as deputy chairman for internal affairs and Mappinawang as deputy chairman for operational affairs.

They were helped by Munarman as coordinator of the civil- political division, Poltak as coordinator of the natural resources division, and Pungky as coordinator of the labor division.

"Although we have been given six months to prepare the election of the new YLBHI executive board, we hope the election of the definitive board can be implemented as soon as possible," Irianto told The Jakarta Post.

The caretakers were established following an internal conflict in one of the country's most respected nongovernmental organizations.

The conflict peaked with the resignation of YLBHI chairman Bambang Widjojanto and his secretary-general Munir from the organization early this month.

The conflict within the YLBHI escalated after the founders, who also act as the organization's board of patrons rejected the board of executives' proposal to change the organization from a foundation to a loose association. --JP