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Islamic bloc's help rewarded with No 2 spot

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Three days after choosing President Megawati Sukarnoputri with one voice, a deeply divided Parliament yesterday finally elected a vice-president, Hamzah Haz, in a process both open and ominous.

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Meanwhile, Abdurrahman Wahid finally vacated the presidential palace he had been refusing to leave since his impeachment on Monday, which led to Ms Megawati's accession.

Mr Hamzah leads the United Development Party, a Muslim party, which was one of the three authorised under the rule of former president Suharto and is now the third largest in parliament. He was the first minister to quit Mr Wahid's cabinet and is a key member of the Islamist bloc that ushered Ms Megawati into power.

The People's Consultative Assembly went into a third round of voting to pick Mr Hamzah, after eliminating respected former general and administrator Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the House of Representatives Speaker and Golkar party chief, Akbar Tandjung.

'If we see parliament as a democratic institution, then this was a democratic choice. But the main thing here is that Hamzah's elevation to the vice-presidency was clearly the price to be paid for Muslim support of Megawati,' said a political analyst. Ironically, Mr Hamzah led the call two years ago that Muslim Indonesia should not be run by a woman. Now he is her deputy.

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Mr Hamzah, a 61-year-old father of 12, is not identified with any particular policy commitments and opinion is divided on whether the post of vice-president will carry significance in Ms Megawati's Government.

Some analysts say the post is primarily ceremonial, while others argue it carries more weight than ever, given the indications that Ms Megawati's approach to government will be hands-off. Some believe he will provide a counterweight to her brand of non-religious nationalism.

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