Hamzah Haz is bowing out of politics.

Hamzah Haz, the chairman of the Partai Persatuan Pembangunan (PPP) and a former vice president, says his political career is over and he would like to devote his time now to helping Muslim clerics.

He said on the 29th at the opening of a PPP meeting at Samarinda, East Kalimantan:

I’m done.
(Saya sudah selesai.)

On the question of who would replace him as party leader he mentioned five names, Suryadharma Ali, Alimarwan Hanan, Yunus Yosfiah, Eggi Sudjana, and Endin AJ Soefihara, but without voicing any partisanship towards any one of them. kompas

Hamzah Haz.

Later, in Jakarta on the 1st of December, Haz said that candidates for the leadership of the party need not come from the PPP’s traditional sources of membership, the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muslimin Indonesia (MI). What was important was that the PPP would remain a strong force, and to do this it had to open itself up, and not rely only on NU support. mediaindo