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View all search resultsControversial lawmaker rises to Constitutional Court in shady process
The House of Representatives abruptly appointed lawmaker Adies Kadir as a Constitutional Court justice, replacing an appointee who had served only five months. Adies was embroiled in controversy over remarks that fueled the August unrest.
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Former Golkar Party politician and House of Representatives deputy speaker Adies Kadir attends a House plenary session on Jan. 27, 2026, at the Senayan legislative complex in Jakarta. The House appointed Adies for the Constitutional Court justice seat to replace incumbent justice Arief Hidayat, who will retire in February. (Antara/Dhemas Reviyanto)
O
nce seen as a controversial figure whose comment contributed to the nationwide unrest and protest against the government last August, former Golkar Party politician and lawmaker Adies Kadir has been appointed as a Constitutional Court judge through a swift process that raises suspicions about a possible political drive behind the move.
At a plenary session on Tuesday, the House of Representatives officially approved Adies, then legislature deputy speaker, as its nominee for a seat on the Constitutional Court. The decision was immediately followed by his dismissal from the House leadership.
Adies is expected to replace Arief Hidayat, an incumbent House-appointed justice who will retire in February and leave his seat at the nine-justice bench empty.
A long-time figure within Golkar, Adies has served at the House since 2014. He served as the deputy chair of House Commission III overseeing legal affairs between 2019 and 2024.
Adies’ appointment revived public scrutiny because of his controversial remark last year, saying lawmakers’ lavish housing allowance “made sense”, which was deemed insensitive amid economic hardships experienced by most members of the public.
The comment became one of the flashpoints that fueled nationwide protests in August 2025, when thousands took to the streets in various cities across the country to decry rising inequality and the perceived detachment of political elites with the real condition on the ground.
Golkar briefly suspended him following the backlash. But in November, the House Ethics Council cleared him of inappropriate behavior and reinstated him at the legislature’s speakership position.
