JAKARTA (Yosefardi) – Deputy Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court (MK) Arief Hidayat has been elected as the new Chief Justice replacing Hamdan Zoelva, whose term of service ends since Jan. 7, 2015.

Nine MK Justices have agreed to elect Arief Hidayat by acclamation as the new Chief Justice in the election held this morning (Jan. 12).

Arief serves as MK Justice since 2013. He is one of three parliament-nominated justices. Prior his service at the MK, he was a lecturer at the Diponegoro University’s School of Law.

Anwar Usman, meanwhile, has been elected as the new MK Deputy Chief Justice replacing Arief Hidayat. Anwar won the voting with securing five votes. While his contender, Aswanto, only got four votes.

Anwar is one of three Supreme Court-nominated justices. He serves as MK Justice since 2011. Prior, Anwar was a justice at the Jakarta High Court. (haryantosuharman@yosefardi.com)