Hamzah quits political life

Hamzah quits political life

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The presidential election runoff will mark the end of the
political career of the outgoing Vice President Hamzah Haz, who
announced on Friday that he would retire from politics after
Sept. 20, the date of vote.

Speaking in front of dozens of people at a ceremony to mark
the inauguration of the Al-Aqsha boarding school in Kelapa
Gading, North Jakarta, Hamzah said he was planning to spend more
time with his grandchildren after he quit politics.

"I have stopped my political activities, closed a chapter in
my life as part of the government," the United Development Party
(PPP) leader said.

It remains unclear whether he will also relinquish his post in
the party. He won his second five-year term as the PPP chief last
year.

"I want to rest and take care of my grandchildren after more
than 30 years of involvement in the country's government," Hamzah
said.

Hamzah is among the country's senior politicians, and spent
over two decades in the regional legislature and House of
Representatives until the fall of former president Soeharto in
1998.

Hamzah was appointed the investment minister by Soeharto's
predecessor B.J. Habibie, who was in office until October 1999.

In the next Cabinet of then president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur"
Wahid, Hamzah served as the coordinating minister for people's
welfare for several months, before Gus Dur dismissed him.

Hamzah was elected vice president in 2001 by the People's
Consultative Assembly, edging out the Golkar Party's Akbar
Tandjung. The Assembly had earlier ousted Gus Dur and appointed
Megawati Soekarnoputri as the president.

After three years of cooperation, however, Megawati decided on
Nahdlatul Ulama chairman Hasyim Muzadi over Hamzah as her running
mate in this year's presidential election.

In an apparent effort to try his own luck at the presidency,
Hamzah contested the presidential race in July along with his
running mate, the former transportation minister Agum Gumelar.

The Hamzah-Agum ticket, supported by PPP which finished fourth
in the April legislative election, was eliminated in the
presidential election after finishing dead last in the first
round.

Hamzah and his party have now vowed to support Megawati and
Hasyim, who are running against former security minister Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono and his running mate Jusuf Kalla. PPP also
joined the Golkar-led Nationhood Coalition to help Megawati win
the presidency, despite resistance from some of its members.

"My days as vice president are numbered, The country will have
a new vice president after Sept. 20," Hamzah explained.