PPP may move congress forward in 2003: Hamzah

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

United Development Party (PPP) chairman Hamzah Haz suggested his party might hold a leaders meeting next month to discuss the possibility of moving its national congress forward to 2003 to elect a new chairman.

"Pak Hamzah said that he had agreed to hold the leaders meeting around May, with the main agenda being to hold a congress in 2003," PPP's branch chairman from Central Java, Thoyfoer MC, said on Monday after meeting with Hamzah.

Thoyfoer further said that the suggestion purely came from Hamzah and there was no pressure from the party's branches across the country for the congress.

The congress issue is one of the major factors that caused a split in the largest Muslim party in Indonesia. Several former members of the party established a new party called PPP Reform because Hamzah insisted on postponing the congress until 2004 and refused to move forward the congress to 2003.

The splinter party, led by noted Muslim preacher Zainuddin MZ, has increasingly become a major threat to PPP, especially ahead of the coming general election in 2004.

Zainuddin also accused Hamzah of having violated the party's regulation that the congress should be held in 2003. The noted preacher also doubted that Hamzah had no knowledge of the embezzlement of funds belonging to the State Logistics Agency (Bulog).

It is not clear why Hamzah, who is also the Vice President, decided to consider moving the congress forward only after the splinter group established a new party.

Thoyfoer, however, brushed aside any speculation linked to the establishment of PPP Reform, saying that the congress should be held before the general election in 2004, so the party had time to consolidate.

A member of the party's central executive board, Faisal Baasir, said that the party's leaders had decided to hold the meeting as soon as possible, but it was hampered by the recess period of the House of Representatives.

"Actually, we are expediting the meeting not because of the establishment of the PPP Reform, but because we need to decide the time to hold the congress as soon as possible. The decision will be made at the leaders meeting," Faisal told The Jakarta Post.