Hamzah fires top party members amid conflict

Hamzah fires top party members amid conflict

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The United Development Party (PPP) has dismissed six top
executives for their involvement in an informal meeting last
week, which the central board said was an act of betrayal.

A central board decree signed by party leader Hamzah Haz
terminates the membership of deputy chairmen Suryadharma Ali,
Zarkasih Nur, Andi Ghalib and Lukman Hakim Saefuddin and deputies
secretary-general Emron Pangkapi and Ermalena, Antara reported.

The decree came into effect on Tuesday, the day it was signed.

The party's chief of organizational affairs Djuhad Mahja said
on Wednesday the tough measure was unanimously agreed to during a
top executive meeting at the party headquarters on Tuesday by
Hamzah, secretary-general Yunus Yosfiah, deputy leader Alimarwan
Hanan and secretary for organizational affairs Rahman Syagaff.

Djuhad said the party got tough with the six organizers of the
meeting because they had been notified beforehand that they would
risk a dismissal if they held the gathering.

Over 700 party members from across the country participated in
the event on Feb. 24 and Feb. 25 here, which concluded with
demands for sweeping reforms and a congress at the end of this
year. The next PPP congress is scheduled for 2007.

The party central board deemed the meeting was a move that
would lead to a coup against Hamzah, who the supporters of the
informal meeting said had failed to help the party perform well
in the elections last year.

The PPP's popular vote declined in the latest legislative
election in 2004, compared to that won in 1999.

Hamzah was also widely criticized for defying the wishes of
his party rank-and-file by supporting Megawati Soekarnoputri in
the presidential election run-off last September instead of
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Susilo appointed PPP members Suryadharma and Bachtiar
Chamsyah, who are known Hamzah critics, to his Cabinet. The two
have been touted as the strongest contenders for the party's top
post if a congress is held this year.

Djuhad would not elaborate whether other prominent
participants of the informal meeting like Bachtiar, House of
Representatives legislators Aisyah Amini and Barlianta Harahap
would also be shown the door.

Commenting on the dismissal, Usamah Hisyam, the secretary-
general of Parmusi, a faction in the PPP, said the decision
violated the party's statute and internal rules.

"We condemn the dismissal. It demonstrates the arrogance of
the central board and their disdain of the PPP's struggle as a
(democratic) Muslim party," said Usamah, who helped organize the
informal meeting.

He warned that the dismissal would spark an internal conflict
within the party.

Internal feuding has plagued the Muslim-based party following
the fall of the New Order in 1998. During the authoritarian
regime the PPP was one of only three parties allowed to contest
the elections. Like the other two -- Golkar and the Indonesian
Democratic Party -- PPP always supported the reelection of then
president Soeharto.

The party was split later in 1998 after a group of members
declared a new party under the leadership of renowned cleric
Zainuddin M, which later became the Star Reform Party (PBR).