After earning a law degree at the University of Muhammadiyah Jakarta, he pursued the lawyer's profession for some time before finally starting to plunge into politics, and joined the National Mandate Party (PAN), which later led him to become a member of the DPR-RI two periods 1999-2004 and 2004-2009 from the electoral district of West Sumatra.
Setelah meraih gelar sarjana hukum di Universitas Muhammadiyah Jakarta, iapun menekuni profesi pengacara selama beberapa waktu sebelum akhirnya mulai terjun ke dunia politik, dan bergabung dengan Partai Amanat Nasional (PAN), yang kemudian mengantarkan dirinya menjadi anggota DPR-RI dua periode 1999-2004 dan 2004-2009 dari daerah pemilihan Sumatera Barat.