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By
Derwin
Pereira
INDONESIA CORRESPONDENT
JAKARTA - It comes as no surprise
that Vice-President Hamzah Haz is planning to take a month off
soon to kick-start his bid for the presidency in 2004.
The economy continues to be in a
rut, bomb explosions are rocking Indonesia once again, and the
forests in Kalimantan are burning. These problems are the last
thing on the mind of Indonesia's No 2 whose growing political
ambitions supersede national interests.
Such misplaced priorities are
widening the rifts in government - and worsening his ties with
President Megawati Sukarnoputri - and does little to inspire
confidence in a country still bereft of strong leadership four
long years after Mr Suharto's fall.
Mr Hamzah has emerged over the last
10 months as a controversial figure with a penchant for
deliberately breaking the government line. Initially, observers
brushed aside his gimmicks as an insignificant display of
opportunistic politicking.
But these days, one cannot analyse
his actions without taking into account his ballooning
presidential ambitions, splits within his Muslim-based United
Development Party (PPP) and rivalry with Ms Megawati.
On at least three occasions, Mr
Hamzah has been made embarrassingly subordinate to the decisions
of a President backed by the powerful military, making him see the
value of cultivating the Muslim ground to shore up his power base:
His reco- mmendations for the
economy - outlined in an action plan earlier this year - were
promptly rejected by Ms Megawati.
- The Vice- President's choice of
Mr Samudra Sukardi, the elder brother of Cabinet minister
Laksamana Sukardi and a PPP cadre, to head the national flag
carrier Garuda, was passed over.
- Despite his opposition, the
Cabinet went ahead with the decision to arrest Laskar Jihad
leader Jafaar Umar Thalib for allegedly inciting violence in
the Maluku islands and threatening to kill the President. Mr
Hamzah's response was swift. He visited Jafaar in jail to show
'Muslim solidarity'.
His main aim is to attack the
President.
And this has been borne out
further in recent weeks with his open courtship of other
Muslim radicals like Abu Bakar Bashir and declaration that he
would make a presidential bid in 2004.
He is seeking to alienate Ms
Megawati, who is starting to make too many political enemies.
But it is a costly game that Indonesia can do without.
As a seasoned politician and
someone tasked with assisting the President, he should show
better judgment by putting national interests first before
engaging in theatrics that is laced heavily with personal
interests.
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