Camelia Pasandaran, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's legal staff were outraged when outspoken Constitutional Court Chief Justice Mahfud M.D. made the president the focus of his latest critique, blaming the growing number of unsolved legal cases on Yudhoyono's lack of leadership.

"The moral bankruptcy of the legal system is due to the static legal enforcement," Mahfud said on Friday. "The key is leadership. We often face the belief that the president shouldn't be involved in law enforcement. But in my opinion, the president should be involved in law enforcement but not the court process. Law enforcement is, indeed, the president's duty."

The presidential legal staff countered that Mahfud's criticism was misguided. "On concrete legal cases, the president should set a certain distance between himself and the legal system to respect the court process, as guaranteed by the Constitution," Denny Indraya said.

He argued that recent attempts to combat corruption in the legal system were proof of Yudhoyono's initiative, including the establishment of a judicial task force on the mafia, creation of a team to verify abuse of power, extortion charges against KPK deputy chairmen Chandra M Hamzah and Bibit samad Rianto and review of police and prosecutor oversight commissions.

Denny answered Mahfud's critique of Yudhoyono's leadership with some harsh words of his own. He held Mahfud responsible for leaving whistleblower Refly Harun unprotected during the bribery trial, adding that Mahfud's priority should be his duties in the courts, not commentary.

"It's better [for him] to focus on carrying out his constitutional court duties and authority," Denny said. "If he wants to set an example for anticorruption legal enforcement, he could start by applying the anticorruption system and protecting whistleblowers."

Refly's case, Denny said, "shows that the anticorruption system and protection for whistleblowers at the Constitutional Court need to be improved, and need the leadership of Mahfud MD as the chief."

In response to Denny's statement, Mahfud praised his advice to be more judicious with his commentary but was unconcerned by outside opinion of his actions at the court.

"Justice is not disturbed by and doesn't care about such things," Mahfud said. "Concerning people's opinion, it's common that some will agree and some disagree. It is part of democracy."

Still, he felt obligated to defend the court against accusations like those concerning Refly's case. "I think that this court should not be destroyed by opinion, or by people who only predict," Mahfoud said. "I have to fight it because I'm not only judge, but the authority who should protect the dignity of this office."