Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Murmurs of discontent within President Megawati Sukarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P) are growing louder by the day.
Last week, the party was rocked by allegations from within that some of its legislators had been accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars as bribes from various sources in the past three years.
The furore is an indication of the widespread discontent among the party elite, since allegations of kickbacks are not uncommon and usually raise few eyebrows.
Indeed, dissatisfaction with the party leadership has grown since Ms Megawati's controversial step of supporting unpopular Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso for a second term in office.
Almost as widely disliked was the party's decision to shun the campaign to remove Mr Akbar Tandjung from the post of parliamentary Speaker following his graft conviction.
Party sources told The Straits Times they were disappointed that their chairman lacked a sense of crisis, displayed poor leadership and showed little commitment to fight corruption.
Some party members are reportedly willing to follow in the steps of other unhappy legislators – like Mr Dimyati Hartono and Mr Sophan Sophian – who left the party early this year.
The latest crisis to hit the party was set off by four PDI-P members of a parliamentary budget commission who blew the whistle on fellow members who allegedly accepted bribes from Indonesia's Bank Restructuring Agency.
One of them, Mrs Indira Damayanti Sugondo, said she had refused the agency's offers of thousands of US dollars several times after hearings on bank privatisation.
Others admitted that they had either been offered money or witnessed others receiving kickbacks from various government agencies pursuing increase on their budget allocations.
Ms Indira testified on the matter before the police last week, but no official probe has yet begun. Under Indonesian law, police are required to obtain presidential consent before they can question an MP.
Ms Indira said her revelation had evoked strong reactions within the party. Some legislators accused her of attempting to taint the party's reputation.
"They are also afraid that their sources of income would decline because their activities would be under scrutiny from now on," she said. She said she was disappointed because Ms Megawati had not kept her election promise of eliminating corruption in the country.
This was especially evident when the party dismissed calls to set up a parliamentary probe on Mr Akbar's graft case, she said.
Ms Indira tendered her resignation from Parliament in July but said she was staying within the party in an attempt to get others to follow her move.
The party is losing support from grassroots loyalists who feel they have not benefited from being in power, admitted other sources. One official said: "But it seems Megawati and other party elites are not concerned about this."
Analysts, however, predicted that the PDI-P would continue to win the election even with indications of declining supports. "The internal rift within the party is not that significant, and as long as Megawati is in power, she will be able to mobilise forces to maintain her political power at least until 2009," said analyst Affan Gaffar.