L

ess than two months after it selected its chairman, the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) is plagued by internal conflict, apparently centering on rivalries among members to control the rights body.

Several fellow commission members have tried to oust Otto Nur Abdullah who was selected as chairman on Nov. 26. Otto had reportedly planned to investigate human rights abuses in the country.

Certain politicians, who are often linked to human rights abuses and plan to run in the 2014 presidential election, are anxious about his program.

Speculation is rife that worried politicians have put pressure on the rights body to cancel its investigation’s.

On Friday, Otto revealed that the majority of his colleagues supported the idea to elect a new leader annually until their term ends in 2017.

This means his chairmanship would be cut short from two and a half years to one year.

“A meeting [last Monday] concluded that there is a need to redefine the meaning of collective collegial leadership in this institution. Most of us believe that a consequence of this would be the shortening of the chairmanship term, from two and a half years to one year,” Otto said on Friday.

Otto made the revelation only after rights activists pushed him to clarify rumors of rivalries within the body.

Komnas HAM’s commissioners, especially those who supported the plan, failed to convince their audience of the importance of electing a new chairman every year.

Rights activists said the reasons voiced by the commissioners were “illogical” and “unreasonable”.

Commissioner Ansori Sinungan, a former official at the Law and Human Rights Ministry said that an extended period of leadership would not guarantee the success of a program, citing his experience as a former government official participating in carrying out the then New Order’s Five-Year Development Plans (Repelita).

“Repelita could not be successfully done in five years, let alone in two and a half years,” Ansori said, which was immediately followed by shouts and boos from the audience, who claimed Ansori had applied “reverse logic”.

Exclamations heard from the audience included: “Let alone a year! What can you do in one year?”

The meeting on Friday neglected to respond to activists calls for Komnas HAM to cancel the plan and focus on its work.

Haris Azhar, chairman of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) said that changing Komnas HAM’s leadership was unnecessary as it would distract the institution from its core responsibility — to resolve nationwide human rights abuses.

“I find it suspicious that you discuss the idea after appointing a new chairman. Why not discuss everything — including the terms of the chairman — beforehand? I think it is better to focus on the cases you have now instead of wasting time and energy to bicker about the right person to chair,” he said.

Meanwhile, executive director of the human rights watchdog Indri Saptaningrum warned that many groups wanted to weaken Komnas HAM, particularly as it had previously announced it would continue to focus on the investigation of three serious cases.