Anita Rachman, Jakarta – A Bandung professor garnered the most votes on Thursday as the House of Representatives selected seven hopefuls, dubbed "the best of the worst," to sit on the Judicial Commission.

House Commission III, overseeing legal affairs, chose the top seven names out of 14 candidates, and came out with a final lineup.

Eman Suparman, a professor from Padjajaran University, received 51 out of 55 votes from lawmakers. Coming in second was an "unrecommended" Supreme Court justice, Abbas Said, with 42 votes, followed by former legislator Imam Anshori Saleh with 40.

Taufiqurrohman, a former Constitutuonal Court staffer, ranked fourth with 39 votes, followed by academics Suparman Marzuki, Jaja Ahmad Jayus and Ibrahim, who received 38, 37 and 36, respectively.

Those who made the cut will serve a five-year term at the Judicial Commission – which recommends punishments for judges ruled guilty of crime or misconduct – once their nominations are approved by a House plenary.

"This is the best of the worst," said Benny K. Harman, chairman of Commission III and a member of the ruling Democratic Party. "What can we do? The raw materials given by the selection committee are just like that. But the law states clearly that we must choose seven," Benny added. "So, we will still forward seven names for the [Judicial] Commission]."

House Commission III held a two-day fit-and-proper test starting on Wednesday, grilling 14 nominees whose names were submitted by a selection committee formed by the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights. Legislators, however, were not impressed by the crop, with some Commission III members choosing to vote for only four or five candidates instead of all seven.

Earlier in the week, the Coalition for Judiciary Observers (KPP) asked the House to scrutinize four nominees with less-than-shining track records. Among them was Abbas, who was rumored to have amassed an unusually large fortune and a backlog of 600 cases while at the Supreme Court.

Asep Fajar Rahmat, a director of the Indonesian Legal Roundtable, which was part of the observers coalition, said although he was disappointed with Abbas's selection, he understood that the law required someone with a legal background.

Benny, meanwhile, defended the committee's choice, saying Abbas was the only candidate who "had what the Judicial Commission needed". "He knows the workings of a judge best," the lawmaker said. "He has tens of years of experience in the court. Abbas will strengthen the commission."

Nasir Djamil, a Commission III member from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), said people should not worry about specific candidates because the Judicial Commission members would work as a team. He said the House would monitor the body to ensure it carried out its responsibilities to oversee the nation's jurists.