Fahri Hamzah (born 10 November 1971) is an Indonesian politician and former deputy speaker of the Indonesia House of Representatives. He first became a member of the legislative body in 2004 and has been re-elected twice in the same election district.

Fahri Hamzah
Deputy Speaker of People's Representative Council
on People's Welfare
In office
2 October 2014 – 1 October 2019
SpeakerSetya Novanto
Ade Komaruddin
Bambang Soesatyo
Preceded byPriyo Budi Santoso
Succeeded byMuhaimin Iskandar
Member of People's Representative Council
In office
1 October 2004 – 1 October 2019
ConstituencyWest Nusa Tenggara
Personal details
Born (1971-11-10) 10 November 1971 (age 52)
Sumbawa, Indonesia
Political partyProsperous Justice Party until March 2016
Indonesian People's Wave Party from 2019
SpouseFarida Briani
Children5
Alma materUniversity of Indonesia

Political career edit

After graduating from the University of Indonesia, Hamzah founded the KAMMI (Kesatuan Aksi Mahasiswa Muslim Indonesia/Indonesian Muslim University Students' Action Union) and became its first president in the political situation after the fall of Suharto. Later, he joined the Prosperous Justice Party after briefly working as an expert staff for the People's Consultative Assembly. He ran in the 2004 elections as a nominee for his home district of West Nusa Tenggara, and won a seat.[1] In his first term, he admitted to receiving non-budgetary benefits from then-Minister of Fishery Rokhmin Dahuri, which resulted in his being reprimanded by the body's ethical council (Dewan Kehormatan) and was barred from holding a position until 2009.[2]

In 2009, however, he successfully ran for re-election after winning 105,412 votes, the second highest in the district out of 10 elected representatives.[3] During his second term, he caused a controversy by calling for the disbanding of the Corruption Eradication Commission.[4] Also in the same term, he served as a member of the body's ethical council briefly during the 2011–2012 period.[2]

After placing first in the district for his second re-election in 2014 with 125,083 votes,[5] he was elected as Deputy Speaker of the parliament on 2 October, during which the minority ruling coalition walked out of the parliament building due to a perceived unfairness of the majority opposition placing only their members on the body's speaker positions.[6]

On 11 March 2016, he was dismissed from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) for making several seemingly controversial, counter-productive and improper statements (a little bit stupid [sic]).[7] In accordance, his former party proposed for another member of the parliament Ledia Hanifa Amaliah to replace him as Deputy Speaker.[8] However, Hamzah is still active as Deputy Speaker as of December 2017.[9] Following the dismissal, he sued his former party, winning up to the level of the Supreme Court which awarded him Rp 30 billion in damages (US$2.1 million).[10]

During the voting of the 2017 electoral law, opposition parties all walked out from the parliament's chamber. However, Hamzah decided to remain, despite his sole opposition to a section of the electoral law regulating a 20 percent presidential candidacy threshold with all other members remaining voting in favor of it.[11]

He did not run for reelection in 2019.[12] He then co-founded the Indonesian People's Wave Party (Gelora) with a number of other former PKS politicians, and became its vice chairman.[13]

References edit

  1. ^ "Fahri Hamzah" (in Indonesian). Merdeka. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  2. ^ a b "Fahri Hamzah". WikiDPR (in Indonesian). Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  3. ^ "Hasil Perolehan Suara Peserta Pemilu 2009 NTB". Rumah Pemilu (in Indonesian). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 April 2014. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  4. ^ "Alasan Fahri Hamzah ingin bubarkan KPK" (in Indonesian). 4 October 2011. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  5. ^ Probel, Amston (25 April 2014). "Dari NTB Fahri Hamzah Melenggang ke Senayan" (in Indonesian). Tempo. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  6. ^ "KMP Kompak Usung Setya Novanto Ketua DPR" (in Indonesian). BeritaSatu. 2 October 2014. Archived from the original on 26 June 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  7. ^ "PKS Provides Explanation on Fahri Hamzah's Dismissal". Tempo. 4 April 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  8. ^ Tashandra, Nabilla (1 December 2016). "PKS Harap Pimpinan DPR Arif dalam Memproses Status Fahri Hamzah" (in Indonesian). Kompas. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  9. ^ "DPR Deputy Speaker Suggests KPK Replace Its Spokesperson". Tempo. 14 August 2017. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  10. ^ Rivki (14 December 2017). "Fahri Hamzah Kembali Menang, PKS Tetap Dihukum Rp 30 Miliar". detiknews (in Indonesian). Retrieved 14 December 2017.
  11. ^ Prasetia, Andhika (21 July 2017). "Novanto Sahkan UU Pemilu dengan Presidential Threshold 20%". detiknews (in Indonesian). Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  12. ^ "Tak Maju di Pemilu 2019, Fahri Mengaku Banyak Caleg yang Minta Di-"endorse"". KOMPAS.com (in Indonesian). 4 April 2019. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  13. ^ "Profil Partai Gelora: Berawal dari Ormas yang Dibangun Anis Matta dan Fahri Hamzah, Keduanya Eks PKS". KOMPAS.tv (in Indonesian). 11 February 2023. Retrieved 5 April 2023.