Axed politicians to sue PPP chief

JAKARTA: Six United Development Party (PPP) executives have hired a lawyer and will file a lawsuit against the party's leader Hamzah Haz for dismissing them.

Speaking at a press conference, the politicians claimed that the dismissal was illegitimate, so they would ignore it and keep working for the party.

"We have hired lawyer Egi Sudjana, who will represent us. We are not going to challenge the party decision by the use of force," one of the executives, Zarkasih Nur, said.

Hamzah signed on Tuesday the dismissal of Zarkasih, Suryadharma Ali, Andi Ghalib and Lukman Hakim Saefuddin as well as Emron Pangkapi and Ermalena -- all high-ranking party leaders -- due to their participation in last week's informal gathering despite the central board's ban. The event concluded with demands for reforms and a congress this year instead of 2007 as scheduled.

Both Zarkasih and Ghalib said they had notified Hamzah of their involvement in the informal meeting beforehand. -- Antara