Hamzah's PPP fights it out to keep unity intact

Hamzah's PPP fights it out to keep unity intact

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Unity is at stake in the United Development Party (PPP) under
Hamzah Haz following a breakaway move led by noted preacher
Zainuddin MZ.

An internal debate among PPP supporters over how to keep the
party solid is in the offing after a group of members proposed a
snap congress in 2003 to discuss preparations for the next
general election in 2004.

According to the schedule, the next party congress is only due
to be held after the general election.

Despite Hamzah's approval, there have been voices raised
against the plan, particularly from party executives who are
apparently reluctant to relinquish their posts before their terms
expire in 2004.

"We have to be objective and immediately consolidate,
otherwise many of our members will cross over to the splinter
group," PPP deputy chairman Rusjdi Hamka told journalists after a
meeting with Hamzah, who is also the Vice President, on Thursday.

Zainuddin, dubbed the preacher of one million followers,
declared the establishment of the PPP Reform on Jan. 21 in
Jakarta. The breakaway was caused by, among other things, the PPP
leaders' refusal to comply with demands to bring forward the
party congress to 2003.

It is feared that the charismatic Zainuddin could lure many of
the PPP's traditional voters to jump on the PPP Reform bandwagon.
PPP finished third behind the Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle and the Golkar Party in the last election in 1999,
winning 58 of the 500 seats in the House of Representatives.

Hamzah has offered to reconcile with Zainuddin, but to no
avail so far.

Rusjdi admitted that some members of the central executive
board had agreed to bring forward the congress to next year, but
to avoid further internal conflict the proposal would be
discussed at a leadership meeting in June.

"We understand that our decision to stick to the original
schedule as regards the congress has resulted in a negative
reaction from party supporters. The presence of the splinter
group is a further challenge and we need time to regroup," he
remarked.

Cracks were evident in the already beleaguered PPP as only 13
out of 27 executives invited to a special meeting on Wednesday
night were present.

After the meeting, the party secretary-general Ali Marwan
Hanan, who is also the state minister for cooperatives and small
and medium enterprises, insisted that the next congress would be
held in 2004 in order to give the party enough time to regroup.

"The congress will take place in 2004, and we will never
discuss the possibility of moving it forward," he asserted.

Rusjdi played down on Thursday the seemingly open conflict
between top party figures.

"There is no dispute between us. We will decide the date for
the congress in June. Let's see what will happen later," Rusjdi
said.