Hamzah quits political life<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The presidential election runoff will mark the end of the
\npolitical career of the outgoing Vice President Hamzah Haz, who
\nannounced on Friday that he would retire from politics after
\nSept. 20, the date of vote.<\/p>\n
Speaking in front of dozens of people at a ceremony to mark
\nthe inauguration of the Al-Aqsha boarding school in Kelapa
\nGading, North Jakarta, Hamzah said he was planning to spend more
\ntime with his grandchildren after he quit politics.<\/p>\n
\"I have stopped my political activities, closed a chapter in
\nmy life as part of the government,\" the United Development Party
\n(PPP) leader said.<\/p>\n
It remains unclear whether he will also relinquish his post in
\nthe party. He won his second five-year term as the PPP chief last
\nyear.<\/p>\n
\"I want to rest and take care of my grandchildren after more
\nthan 30 years of involvement in the country's government,\" Hamzah
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Hamzah is among the country's senior politicians, and spent
\nover two decades in the regional legislature and House of
\nRepresentatives until the fall of former president Soeharto in
\n1998.<\/p>\n
Hamzah was appointed the investment minister by Soeharto's
\npredecessor B.J. Habibie, who was in office until October 1999.<\/p>\n
In the next Cabinet of then president Abdurrahman \"Gus Dur\"
\nWahid, Hamzah served as the coordinating minister for people's
\nwelfare for several months, before Gus Dur dismissed him.<\/p>\n
Hamzah was elected vice president in 2001 by the People's
\nConsultative Assembly, edging out the Golkar Party's Akbar
\nTandjung. The Assembly had earlier ousted Gus Dur and appointed
\nMegawati Soekarnoputri as the president.<\/p>\n
After three years of cooperation, however, Megawati decided on
\nNahdlatul Ulama chairman Hasyim Muzadi over Hamzah as her running
\nmate in this year's presidential election.<\/p>\n
In an apparent effort to try his own luck at the presidency,
\nHamzah contested the presidential race in July along with his
\nrunning mate, the former transportation minister Agum Gumelar.<\/p>\n
The Hamzah-Agum ticket, supported by PPP which finished fourth
\nin the April legislative election, was eliminated in the
\npresidential election after finishing dead last in the first
\nround.<\/p>\n
Hamzah and his party have now vowed to support Megawati and
\nHasyim, who are running against former security minister Susilo
\nBambang Yudhoyono and his running mate Jusuf Kalla. PPP also
\njoined the Golkar-led Nationhood Coalition to help Megawati win
\nthe presidency, despite resistance from some of its members.<\/p>\n
\"My days as vice president are numbered, The country will have
\na new vice president after Sept. 20,\" Hamzah explained.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/hamzah-quits-political-life-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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