Hamdan Zoelva Takes Over Helm of Constitutional Court

Jakarta Globe, SP/Erwin Sihombing, November 1, 2013

The new chief justice of the Constitutional Court, Hamdan Zoelva. (JG Photo/
Safir Makki)

Constitutional Court deputy chief Hamdan Zoelva has been elected as the new head of the court, replacing ousted graft and money-laundering suspect Akil Mochtar.

“The honorary Hamdan Zoelva has been elected to be the new Constitutional Court chief for the term of 2013-2016,” Hamdan, who led the meeting, said on Friday, referring to himself.

The court’s remaining eight justices were forced to vote in two sessions after they failed to reach an agreement during an earlier meeting. In the first session of voting, Hamdan received four votes, Arief Hidayat received three while Ahmad Fadlil Sumadi received one vote.

“Since nobody won more than half of the vote, according to Constitutional Court regulations, a second session was required,” Hamdan said.

Hamdan won five votes in the second vote, while Arief gained three.

Hamdan, the youngest justice at the court, read his law doctorate at Padjajaran University in Bandung, West Java. Before being elected as a judge, he was a lawmaker with the Crescent Star Party. Prior to becoming a lawmaker, he was a lawyer as well as a lecturer at several universities.

Hamdan is replacing Akil, who only manned the court’s top post for a half of a year. Akil was arrested by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in October for suspected bribery in two election disputes under review by the Constitutional Court. He allegedly received Rp 3 billion ($264,000) in relation to Central Kalimantan’s Gunung Mas district election disputes and Rp 1 billion related to Banten’s Lebak election disputes.

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