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.