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House elects PPP politician Arsul Sani as new Constitutional Court justice
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United Development Party (PPP) politician Arsul Sani. (Abba Gabrillin/via kompas.com)
T
he House of Representatives elected on Tuesday its own lawmaker Arsul Sani of the United Development Party (PPP) as a new Constitutional Court justice, replacing justice Wahiduddin Adams, a two-time House appointee who will end his tenure in the next three months.
Arsul, who currently sits on House Commission II overseeing home affairs, won the unanimous vote of all nine House factions in Commission III overseeing legal affairs.
Following the vote, Arsul said that he would step down from his post on the commission, as well as from the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) deputy speakership and the PPP.
Arsul, who was the only justice candidate from a political background, also pledged to be impartial in his new role.
“Being independent is a must. But this does not mean that we don’t listen to the opinions of others, such as expert witnesses,” Arsul said, adding that a justice should not exercise unaccountable power nor hold themselves above the law.
Read also: Constitutional Court set to rule on presidential age minimum
Arsul was chosen from a total of seven candidates, who, before the voting, were vetted by lawmakers in a two-day process that began on Monday. They were former Jakarta High Court judge Reny Halida Ilham Malik, former Supreme Court justice Abdul Latif, prosecutor Firdaus Dewilmar at the Attorney General’s Office, law professor Elita Rahmi, former Judicial Commission chairman Aidul Fitriciada Azhari and ad-hoc judge for corruption courts Haridi Hasan.
