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Constitutional Court chief Mahfud MD on Wednesday denied having met President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono recently, saying that he in fact missed talking with him.

“Actually, I miss him,” he said. “But I have not been in contact with him for a long time — ever since I became the court chief.”

Mahfud was commenting on a text message rumor alleging that Mahfud met with the president at 1 a.m. on Wednesday in the company of an American diplomat.

“At 1 a.m., Yudhoyono must have been sleeping. And if he wasn’t sleepy, than I was too sleepy to meet him,” he said, adding that he knew no one at the US Embassy in Jakarta.

Mahfud said that before heading up the court he often spoke with the president.

“I swear in the name of God that I’ve had no communication [with Yudhoyono] since being selected as court chief,” he said. “It’s not just me carefully avoiding contact with him, but I believe that he also tries to avoid communicating with me.”

But Mahfud did admit to having met Yudhoyono once before the presidential election.

“I asked him to save the Corruption Eradication Commission,” he said.