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House elects controversial police general to lead KPK
All members of the House of Representatives' Commission III overseeing legal affairs voted for South Sumatra Police chief Insp. Gen. Firli Bahuri to be the new chairman following a marathon confirmation hearing on Thursday night.
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Ready to serve: Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) leadership candidate Insp. Gen. Firli Bahuri of the National Police salutes House of Representatives members during a fit and proper test session for his candidacy at the House complex in Senayan, Central Jakarta, on Monday. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
T
he House of Representatives has elected as the new chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) a police general who was accused of committing “gross ethics violations” while previously serving on the antigraft agency.
Members of the House’s Commission III overseeing legal affairs voted for South Sumatra Police chief Insp. Gen. Firli Bahuri to be the new chairman following a marathon confirmation hearing on Thursday night.
Firli gained 56 votes, equal to the number of lawmakers on Commission III, in the first round of voting, which was usually held to first narrow the list of candidates from 10 to 5.
Four other elected KPK commissioners, namely incumbent KPK commissioner Alex Marwata, academic Nurul Ghufron, judge Nawawi Pomolango and lawyer Lili Pintauli Siregar gained 53, 51, 50, and 44 votes respectively.
Commission chairman Azis Syamsuddin of the Golkar Party said after the first round of voting that the commission did not need to go through a second round, explaining that the results were "representative enough".
"All parties have agreed to choose Firli to serve as the KPK chairman," Azis said after a five-minute break during which the representatives of the political parties came to an agreement.
Firli was a former KPK official who had been recalled from the antigraft body over allegations that he had committed ethical violations in June 2019. He served as a deputy for law enforcement from April 2018 until June this year.
