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Pieter now chairs House Commission III
The House of Representatives has inaugurated Democratic Party lawmaker Pieter C
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he House of Representatives has inaugurated DemocraticParty lawmaker Pieter C. Zulkifli Simabuea as the new chairman of HouseCommission III overseeing law and human rights.
Pieter's appointment as Commission III chairman was formalized by House Deputy Speaker Pramono Anung of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) in an uneventful ceremony on Tuesday.
His appointment ended a prolonged stretch of political wrangling among commission members over the Democratic Party tried to appoint controversial lawmaker Ruhut Sitompul as head of the commission. Ruhut withdrew his nomination after failing to gain the support of his opponents.
'I'm very grateful for this position. Thank you for your trust. I will cooperate with the other Commission III members during my leadership because we obviously need to work together to accomplish the job,' Pieter said in an address to the commission shortly after his appointment was approved.
Only 29 out of the total 51 Commission III members were in the commission room for the inauguration. Absent were Ruhut's critics, including Ahmad Yani from the United Development Party (PPP), Bambang Soesatyo from Golkar, Desmond Junaidi Mahesa from the Great Indonesian Movement (Gerindra) Party and Syarifuddin Sudding from the People's Conscience Party (Hanura).
Golkar's Bambang and Hanura's Syarifuddin had been leading opponents of Ruhut's appointment, arguing that he lacked the competence to lead the prestigious and serious commission.
Responding to Pieter's inauguration, Desmond said that he and his colleagues would closely monitor the new head. 'We will see how he will manage us. I personally will file a complaint if I feel that he fails to do what is expected of him,' Desmond said.
