Heru Andriyanto, Jakarta – Justice Minister Yasonna Laoly submitted his resignation to President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo on Friday, after opting to take up the seat in the House of Representatives he had won in the April legislative election.

In his resignation letter, the politician of the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) cited the 2008 State Ministry Law, which prevents ministers from occupying any other statutory posts.

"I am requesting permission from you, Mr. President, to accept my resignation as minister of justice and human rights, effective from Oct. 1, 2019," Yasonna wrote in the letter, seen by the Jakarta Globe.

He will be among the 575 members who will be sworn in on Tuesday for the 2019-2024 term of the House. Yasonna served as a lawmaker about a decade ago, when he was a member of Commission III, which oversees legal affairs.

The native of Nias Island in North Sumatra has been at the center of controversies over the past few weeks concerning the controversial Criminal Code bill and a revision of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Law.

President Jokowi had to ask the House to postpone deliberations on the Criminal Code bill after it became subject of public mockery, as it seeks to criminalize extramarital sex and adultery.

The new KPK law on the other hand, triggered nationwide protests and violent rallies in many cities over the belief that it was intended to undermine the national antigraft agency.

Yasonna is a member of the government team that drafted the new Criminal Code, and he represented the government in the House hearings on the amended KPK Law.

Besides Yasonna, fellow PDI-P executive and Coordinating Human Development and Culture Minister Puan Maharani also won a seat in the House, but it is not yet clear whether she would leave her ministerial post.

Source: https://jakartaglobe.id/context/justice-minister-resigns-to-join-the-house