YLBHI members likely to reconcile soon
YLBHI members likely to reconcile soon
SEMARANG (JP): A noted legal observer predicted yesterday that the conflicting camps in the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) will make peace in the near future.
"They know a prolonged crisis will make the people withdraw their support for the foundation. They know they cannot benefit from the dispute," said Soehardjo.
"I am confident that the opposing parties will reconcile," the expert in constitutional law at Diponegoro University told The Jakarta Post.
The internal conflict erupted after a recent election, the process of which some senior members and observers called undemocratic. The infighting has become so serious that some observers believe it may eventually end in the dissolution of the foundation if not properly resolved.
Bambang Widjojanto, a junior on the YLBHI's executive board but with plenty of experience in handling controversial political and social cases, won the election with seven of 16 votes cast by the board of trustees on March 1. He replaced the enigmatic but charismatic Adnan Buyung Nasution, who resigned from the post last October.
A number of senior members, who claim the election was not democratic, refuse to recognize Bambang's election. They have demanded that the board hold a new election.
The dissenters also established a federation to handle the foundation's day-to-day activities pending a new election.
The federation includes six figures who ran for the post -- Mulyana W. Kusumah, Luhut M.P. Pangaribuan, Amartiwi Saleh, H.J.C. Princen, Hendardi and Rambun Tjayo -- and representatives from six regional offices in Jakarta, Bandung, Semarang, Yogyakarta, Bandar Lampung and Ujungpandang.
The federation has been rejected by the board of trustees, which calls its establishment a violation of the foundation's statutes.
Buyung, who is also a member of the board, said that the board's decision was lawful and final. "People have to abide by the board of trustees' decision. The board holds the highest authority in the foundation," he said.
Bambang has been given until today to announce the lineup of his executive board.
Soehardjo said the crisis was part of a larger democratization process in Indonesia. He dismissed, however, rumors that the government may have fanned the conflict.
He said that the YLBHI needed a unifying figure who has a strong commitment to the people and justice, and is acceptable to all groups.
Meanwhile, Bambang Purnomo, a law professor at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, said that the YLBHI crisis can also be seen as part of the foundation's democratization process.
He said the activists' idealism to defend the oppressed may be in conflict with their desire to enjoy the foundation's amenities.
He said that other legal aid institutes have experienced similar crises.
In Jakarta, lawyers from the "YLBHI alumni" group issued a statement over the weekend asking all YLBHI chapters to abide by the policies set by the board of trustees.
The group also asked the dissenters, who are against the decision of the board of trustees, to resign from YLBHI and channel their democratic aspirations through other institutions. (imn)