PPP may move congress forward in 2003: Hamzah

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.