REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - JAKARTA - Commission III of House of Representative finally picked Arief Hidayat as chief of Constitutional Court, replacing Mahfud MD whose office term end on April 1, 2013. Hidayat won 42 of 48 votes at the House.     

"Arief Hidayat sits on the first place with 42 votes, then he wins," chief of commission III, I Gede Pasek Suardika, Monday evening. He added that Hidayat had demonstrated skills and knoledge needed to lead the legal institution. 

"He has provided us with convincing argument on same sex marriage and human rights," Suardika said. 

During the fit and prioper test, Hidayat said, "America and Indonesia have different context in this issue. We cannot accept the concept of same-sex-marriage since it contradicts with our faith and local wisdom."

Commission III conducted fit and proper test on Monday for three candidates. They are Arief Hidayat, a professor of law at Diponegoro University; Sugianto, a lecturer on sharia at Gunung Jati State Islamic University; and Djafar Albram, a lecturer at Borobudur University. 

Initially, there were six candidates, but former Minister of Law and Human Rights Patrialis Akbar, rector of Krisnadwipayana University Lodewijk Gultom and law lecturer of Universitas Islam Indonesia (UII), Ni'matul Huda, withdrew as candidates.

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