The election was called for after a closed-door plenary meeting failed to choose a new chief.Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesias Constitutional Court has elected Hamdan Zoelva as new chief judge, replacing Akil Mochtar, who recently was named a suspect in a corruption case.
Hamdan Zoelva was chosen during a vote in open session here on Friday by eight justices of the Constitution Court, including Ahmad Fadlil Sumadi, Anwar Usman, Arief Hidayat, Harjono, Maria Farida Indrati, Muhammad Alim, Patrialis Akbar and Hamdan Zoelva.
The session was led by Hamdan Zoelva and in attendance was the secretary general of the court, clerks of the court and was witnessed by court employees and the media.
In the first round of the voting, justice Hamdan Zoelva won four votes while justice Arief Hidayat received three and Ahmad Fadlil had one.
Following the rule that to be elected a justice must receive at least half of all votes, or five votes, to be chosen as chief, a second round of voting was held with the candidates being the two with the most votes, Hamdan Zoelva and Arief Hidayat. Hamdan Zoelvas was then victorious, receiving five votes.
Hamdan said that the election was called for after a closed-door plenary meeting on Friday morning failed to choose a new chief.
He noted that the election of the chief justice could go forward without having to wait for the election of a new justice to replace Akil Mochtar. That election has been postponed.
The eight justices later chose a deputy chief justice through a vote. After voting three times, Arief Hidayat was chosen, winning five votes.
The new chief and deputy chief justices for the period of 2013-2016 will be sworn in next week on Wednesday.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2013
