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Hamzah Haz Elected Vice President of Indonesia
The leader of Indonesia's Muslim-based United Development Party, Hamzah Haz, has been sworn in as the country's new vice president,.
The ceremony was held at the country's national assembly Thursday, where the sixty-one year old had earlier won a run-off vote against the leader of the former ruling party, Golkar.
A seasoned politician, Hamzah Haz fell out of favour with deposed President Abdurrahman Wahid during his last days in office. He resigned his ministerial position after just two months after being accused by the former president of corruption. He had supported Wahid's 1999 presidency bid claiming it was against Islamic teachings for a woman to be president. But his appointment is seen as unlikely to pose a threat to Indonesia's new president Megawati Sukarnoputri.The four most senior parliamentary positions are now evenly held by MPs belonging to the four largest parties.
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