"I will maintain MK on the track."Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Constitutional Court (MK) justice Akil Mochatar was elected as the new chief justice here on Wednesday replacing Mahfud MD who has ended his term of office.
Akil Mochtar was elected with seven votes beating justice Haryono who won only two of the nine votes of MK justices.
The vote was done after nine MK justices failed to compromise on the new MK leadership.
The vote had to be done three times after justices Haryono and Hamdan Zoelva won two votes, Arief Hidayat one and Akil Mochtar four votes in the first vote.
In the second vote Haryono won four votes and Hamdan Zoelva three to determine him to be the candidate for the run-off, which was later won by Akil Mochtar.
"Based on the results of the vote Akil Mochtar was elected as chief justice for the period of 2013-2015," Achmad Sodiki who led the vote said.
Commenting on his election Akil Mochtar said "I will maintain MK `on the track`, to remain independent and bring equal justice."
He admitted former chief justice Mahfud MD had congratulated him over his election saying "Congratulation for having accepted the heavy task.
Mahfud MD recently said the strength of the Constitutional Court was its independence.
Under Mahfud the court has recorded a lot of achievements settling various legal controversies including elections disputes.
(Uu.H-YH/O001)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2013
