PPP wants to replace Hamzah Haz<\/p>\n
Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The internal strife in the United Development Party (PPP) appears
\nto be worsening after members gathered for informal talks over
\nthe weekend demanded that the party bring forward its congress to
\nthe end of the year from the scheduled 2007, citing the need for
\nreform and regeneration in the party.<\/p>\n
The demand to hold an early congress was signed by 602
\nparticipants who came from 94 out of the party's 452 provincial
\nand regental branches at the conclusion of the two-day meeting on
\nSaturday.<\/p>\n
In their statement, the participants said the snap congress
\nwas aimed at reforming the party, whose popularity has been on
\nthe decline. The party won 9.25 million voters (8.15 percent of
\nthe total vote) in the 2004 legislative election compared to 11.3
\nmillion (10.7 percent) in 1999.<\/p>\n
The PPP secured 58 House of Representatives seats in last
\nyear's legislative election, the same number as it garnered in
\nthe previous general election in 1999. The party's bid to win the
\npresidential election, however, faltered in the first round.<\/p>\n
PPP deputy chairman Suryadharma Ali said he was seeking an
\nimmediate meeting with party leader Hamzah Haz.<\/p>\n
"It would be too much if the central board rejected such a
\ngood recommendation. It's a matter of introspection," Suryadharma
\ntold a media conference on Sunday, as quoted by detikcom.<\/p>\n
However, he added that Hamzah had the right to reject the
\nrecommendation.<\/p>\n
Suryadharma, who is also State Minister for Cooperatives and
\nSmall and Medium Enterprises, was among the participants at the
\ninformal meeting. He has been deputized to convey the
\nrecommendation to Hamzah.<\/p>\n
The informal gathering marked an escalating conflict in one of
\nthe biggest Islam-based parties in the country.<\/p>\n
The PPP central board had formally banned party members from
\nattending the gathering, saying it was an attempt to break up the
\nparty.<\/p>\n
"This informal gathering was aimed at undermining the party.
\nIt was simply a forum for some party executives to express their
\ndiscontent with the party. It's a betrayal," said Mahmud F.
\nRakasima, the PPP's research and development division deputy
\nhead, as quoted by Antara.<\/p>\n
Another party executive, Wall Paragoan, branded the informal
\ngathering as the worst tragedy ever in the party's history.<\/p>\n
"The party has to uphold its dignity by sacking the executives
\n(who held the gathering)," he said.<\/p>\n
Wall added that if some party members were bent on internal
\nreform, they should have channeled this through the official
\nmechanisms.<\/p>\n
"If they had good intentions, they wouldn't have held the
\ninformal gathering, which was a waste of money and little more
\nthan a political maneuver," he said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, party executive Ngudi Astuti said it was out of
\nline for the party to intimidate members who wished to improve
\nthe party's fortunes.<\/p>\n
"This informal gathering should be viewed as a sort of
\nconsolidation to help develop the party," she was quoted by
\nKompas daily as saying.<\/p>\n
The first signs of dissension within the party came in 1998
\nwhen a number of party executives, including popular cleric
\nZainuddin M.Z., split from the party and formed the PPP
\nReformasi. The new party did not make it to the 1999 election,
\nbut later in 2004, after changing its name to the Star Reform Party
\n(PBR), it managed to finish among the top 13 parties competing in
\nthat year's general election.<\/p>",
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