Nothing wrong with promoting Islamic law, PPP insists

Nothing wrong with promoting Islamic law, PPP insists

Muhammad Nafik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Vice President Hamzah Haz's Muslim-based United Development
Party (PPP) questioned on Monday a splinter group's move to
exploit ideology as its reason for breaking away from the party.

A PPP official said the party's proposal to include the
imposition of syariah (Muslim law) in the 1945 Constitution had
been accepted by all of its leaders and members so that the issue
should not have been used as an excuse for breaking away.

Aisyah Aminy, a senior PPP legislator, argued that syariah was
no longer an issue in the country's third largest party.

"There is no objection (from PPP members) to the proposal to
include Islamic law in the Constitution," she told The Jakarta
Post.

The looming split has been caused mainly by the demand by a
splinter group spearheaded by preacher Zainuddin MZ for a
leadership change in the PPP ahead of the 2004 general election,
she added.

Aisyah said Zainuddin and his supporters had never opposed the
PPP's decision to propose the recognition of syariah in the
Constitution.

On Monday,the PPP's Jakarta provincial chapter chairman Djafar
Bajeber, one of Zainuddin's allies, said that apart from a
dispute over the party's next leadership congress, the conflict
was also due to differences over principle between Hamzah and
party members.

The differences included Hamzah's move to push for the
promotion of Islamic law to lure conservative Muslim voters to
the party in 2004.

The rival faction has decided to announce the establishment of
PPP Reformasi (reform) on Jan. 27, with Zainuddin as its
chairman.

The plan follows Hamzah's refusal to heed the faction's
demand for the PPP to hold a national leadership congress in 2003
as scheduled. The party has decided to postpone its congress
until after the 2004 elections.

The splinter camp accused Hamzah of trying to retain the
leadership of the PPP by delaying the congress in violation of
the party's constitution.

"How will a party be able to uphold the law if it breaks its
own rules," Zainal Maarif, PPP Central Java branch deputy
chairman, told the Post.

He charged that the PPP under Hamzah has betrayed its
commitment to empowering people at the grassroots level.

Zainal cited as examples the fact that the PPP had done little
to protect workers and had taken no stand on major corruption
cases such as the one implicating House Speaker Akbar Tandjung.

Zainuddin will tender his resignation as a PPP co-chairman on
Tuesday while Zainal and one of his aides, Ade Hidayat, are to do
the same on Monday.

Hamzah played down the plan to establish PPP Reformasi saying
he knew it would not undermine his party.

"I have tried to accommodate the aspirations of Pak Kiai
(preacher) Zainuddin, but if he wants to quit the party, it's no
problem, although it is disappointing for us," Hamzah said.

He argued that Zainuddin was not on the party executive board
when the party scored the major achievement of taking third place
in the most recent general election in 1999.

Zainuddin's camp claimed it had the support of senior
representatives from at least 29 provincial branches across the
country.

"They will all attend a meeting tomorrow (Tuesday) at kiai
Zainuddin's office in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta," Zainal
said.