Hamzah: The accidental politician

Hamzah: The accidental politician

JAKARTA (JP): Hamzah Haz, the low-profile man newly entrusted
to lead the Moslem-based United Development Party (PPP), is a
self-styled, accidental politician.

Born in the West Kalimantan district of Ketapang on Feb. 15,
1940, Hamzah, known for his neat safari suit and slicked-back
hair, usually hidden under his black peci cap, always dreamt of
becoming an entrepreneur.

Hamzah was born in a remote village where his late father was
an elementary school teacher. When the family moved to Ketapang
to allow Hamzah to continue his studies, his father switched
professions, becoming a contractor.

In People's Mouthpiece, Profile of 16 Selected House of
Representatives Politicians, Hamzah says that his father was a
business pioneer among the indigenous people in Ketapang. It was
his father who inspired Hamzah to pursue entrepreneurship in his
childhood.

"Today, there are no indigenous contractors from my father's
generation. Their businesses had unhappy endings because they
were unable to compete with the younger contractors who resorted
to unfair tactics such as bribing officials," he says.

In fact, even today his childhood dreams remain. While he is
busy politicking, the father of 12 children and husband to two
wives -- Asmaniah and Titin Kartini -- runs a money changing
business, Pawan Kapuas Money Changer.

Hamzah quit his illustrious stint at the House of
Representatives, where he spent 20 years as a legislator, when
President B.J. Habibie named him state minister of investment
last May. Hamzah's last position in the House of Representatives
was chief of the PPP faction.

After he finished Senior Economic High School in Ketapang in
1960, Hamzah joined Bebas newspaper in the West Kalimantan
capital of Pontianak. A year later he became a teacher at
Cooperative High School in Ketapang, which sent him to the State
Cooperative Academy in Yogyakarta. Upon his return to Pontianak
in 1965, he enrolled at Tanjungpura University's School of
Economics, where he earned his BA in corporate management.

Hamzah moved to Jakarta in 1971 when he was appointed a House
member representing Nahdlatul Ulama (NU).

In fact, Hamzah did not want to go to move to Jakarta and
become a House member. If he had to take part in the political
jungle, he wanted it to be as a member of the Provincial
Legislative Council.

His political career began in 1968 when he became a member of
the Provincial Legislative Council for Golkar, representing the
1966 Generation although he never dropped his NU membership.

Only 28 at the time, Hamzah was elected council chief,
defeating the older Soewardi Puspojo from the Armed Forces
faction. But he was never installed as chief for unknown reasons
but he thought it was because he was "too young". He questioned
the governor's that he was not installed because he was a member
of NU, which already had a representative on the council's board
of executives. The chairmanship went to Soewardi after a year's
standoff.

In 1968, Hamzah decided to quit Golkar and concentrate on NU.

In the 1971 election, he was elected to both the Provincial
Legislative Council and the House of Representatives as a
representative from NU. He was forced to forget his dream of
staying in Pontianak as a teacher and businessman.

Hamzah, then 31, was NU's youngest representative in Jakarta's
House of Representatives. Aware that he had neither a santri
(Islamic education) or an ulema background, he was motivated to
learn more about the state economy.

NU and three other Islamic parties, Muslimin Indonesia,
Syarikat Islam Indonesia and PERTI, merged into the United
Development Party when in 1973 the Soeharto regime combined a
dozen political parties into three: PPP, Golkar and the
Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI).

Throughout his tenure, Hamzah had always sat on the committee
which dealt with the state budget.

Hamzah is acclaimed for his shrewd analysis of state budgets.
Although he came from an "opposition" party, the government would
consult him when preparing the annual state budget.

"Before the government started to make state budget estimates,
my colleague from the Finance Ministry usually came to me for
consultations. When the budget bill was passed, people would be
surprised to find my figures in the budget estimate," he recalls.

In his opinion, being a House member is not a profession,
because one can be withdrawn at any time by the political
organization they represent.

His obsession to return to his hometown in West Kalimantan
prompted him in 1981 and 1992 to retire from the House and make
way for younger members. But, he says, influential PPP leaders
and activists urged him to stay on.

Hamzah acknowledges being a House member has been wonderful,
not only because of the handsome financial rewards but also
because the legislative body has been a good place to contribute
ideas to help the country.

He is remembered for his insistence that the House should have
more authority than the government in making the budget, as the
Constitution says. He also argued that the House should not
always buckle to the government's will and become a rubber stamp
institution.

Hamzah likes to portray himself as a populist politician. He
says that he goes to bed right after watching TVRI's 9 p.m. world
news, and wakes up at 2:30 a.m. for a morning prayer. Then he
will jog or go to the market with his wife, where he will talk
with the common people he represents.

Hamzah's ascension to the PPP's top slot is rekindling hope
for the party in the upcoming election, scheduled for June 7 next
year.

His election shattered the myth that the PPP chairmanship
always goes to a politician from the Muslimin Indonesia faction.
In the past, this has stirred factional bickering within the
party.

Hamzah pledge to woo back NU politicians who have scattered to
numerous new political parties. NU leaders, unsatisfied with the
existing parties, have established a total of five new political
parties so far.

NU, a former political party that quit politics in 1984 to
concentrate on its original social and educational missions,
claims to have more than 30 million members -- mostly in rural
areas.

"NU was merged into PPP, so it is just logical that its
members remain in PPP," Hamzah said shortly after he emerged as
the winner in the race for the party chairmanship.

Hamzah topped his closest competitor, A.M. Saefuddin, thanks
to the solid support of NU leaders, who were badly divided in the
past party chairmanship elections.

This time, NU leaders threatened to lend their support to
other Islamic political parties if the PPP congress failed to
elect Hamzah.

Soon after he was elected party leader, he had to answer the
same question over and over again: "If the PPP wins the election,
are you ready to become president?" And he gave the same answer
time and again: "I don't even think about that. Let me build up
the PPP first." (pan)