Don't pit me against Mega: Hamzah

Don't pit me against Mega: Hamzah

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Vice President Hamzah Haz pleaded on Sunday with his critics
to refrain from creating a rift between him and President
Megawati Soekarnoputri over differences in their respective
positions with regard to the U.S. war on terrorism.

"I want to say here, please don't pit me against the
President," Hamzah said after closing a national conference of
the United Development Party (PPP), on Sunday.

Hamzah contended that his opposition against the U.S. campaign
was his prerogative as chairman of the Muslim-based PPP, and
therefore, it should not be contrasted with the government's
statement.

"Please don't make it an antagonism. The statement from PPP
will have special value for the President in running the
government," he added without elaborating.

When opening the PPP national conference on Saturday, Hamzah
insisted that the U.S. must cease the air strikes, claiming that
the bombs had caused civilian casualties among Muslims.

In a statement issued on Sunday, PPP repeated Hamzah's call
for the U.S. to stop the military campaign in Afghanistan,
arguing that the attacks had aimed not only at military targets
but also mosques and other civilian targets.

Despite the official PPP statement, no independent
verification has yet been reported of targeting mosques or
civilians, however.

Hamzah said the PPP statement over U.S. attacks was "wise and
balanced."

The PPP statement differs from the government's official
stance on the U.S.-led retaliation, which states that Indonesia
is "concerned about the military actions."

However, Megawati took a tougher stance on Sunday night while
speaking at an Ascension Day ceremony, saying that no government
had the right to attack another country in a fight against
terrorism. But the President stopped short of mentioning a
specific country.

Political observer Riswandha Imawan from Gadjah Mada
University said the different postures taken by Megawati and
Hamzah over the U.S. attacks made it clear that they could not
distance themselves from short-term political interests.

"The move by Hamzah will give an answer to the question: Who
is more accommodating to the Muslim community?" he said, adding
that this was actually a political strategy using the issue of
the U.S.-Afghanistan war --of which Indonesia is not even
indirectly involved-- as a pretext to gain support ahead of the
2004 elections in which Megawati will be his chief rival.

Megawati and Hamzah have made differing statements since the
terrorist attacks in the U.S. on Sept. 11.

While Megawati was in the U.S. to express condolences over the
deaths of 6,000 innocent civilians from 60 countries, including
Indonesia, Hamzah said that the attacks would "cleanse the U.S.
of its sins" against the rest of the world.

Hamzah also said that the government could not prevent
Indonesian Muslims from going to Afghanistan to fight a holy war,
but later, the government officially banned Indonesians from
fighting in any other country's army, reminding people, including
the Vice President, that the Constitution is very clear about
that.

Riswandha emphasized that there must be a regulation or at
least a code of ethics concerning the position of president and
vice president, especially when they are also put in a situation
of possible conflict as leaders of political parties.

"As a vice president, I think Hamzah should consult first with
Megawati. Both figures must show unity in front of the people.
With those differences, such speculation (of discord) is going to
continue," he said.