Armando Siahaan, Jakarta – A flurry of recent controversies that rocked the Democratic Party will not dent the party's voter base during regional elections because of the widespread popularity enjoyed by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, a political analyst said on Friday.

The string of scandals to engulf the Democrats range from corruption cases to political faux pas to sex scandals.

"For now, the party will remain popular because of the brand built by Yudhoyono and its showing in the 2009 election," said Charta Politika analyst Yunarto Wijaya.

He added the incidents would inflict some damage to the party's reputation, but not enough to turn away supporters.

He said these individual incidents were relatively small compared to the impact from the Bank Century bailout, which the Democrats attempted to defend as legitimate in the face of overwhelming opposition from the House of Representatives and the public.

"Yet the Democrats still emerged from that case with their high approval rating intact," Yunarto said.

Burhanuddin Muhtadi, an analyst from the Indonesian Survey institute (LSI), agreed that the Democrats remained relatively popular, but warned that any future slipup by Yudhoyono could seriously hurt the ruling party's reputation.

Yunarto argued that with Yudhoyono out of the picture for the 2014 polls, the party would no longer be able to rely on the "bumper effect" that he currently provided. "Sooner or later, the Democrats will have to come out from Yudhoyono's shadow," he said.

He added that middle- and high-income voters would eventually become more critical of incidents involving other party members after this.

"If they don't start getting a handle on them now, they could prove to be dangerous in the future," Yunarto said. "That could have a multiplier effect that would hurt the party's popularity."

The most recent fiasco revolves around a sex scandal involving Ahmad Tohari, the party's district chairman for Jombang, East Java.

Tohari's wife revealed recently that she had filed for divorce after learning that he had been having an affair with their maid for the past six years. She also claimed to have evidence in the form of cell phone pictures. Tohari has since reportedly been dismissed by Democrat chairman Anas Urbaningrum.

A second alleged sex scandal implicates Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Darwin Zahedy, who is widely rumored to be having an affair with his personal secretary.

However, he and several party stalwarts, including deputy secretary general Saan Mustopha, have denied the allegation, claiming that the rumor is part of a smear campaign against the party.

Adding fuel to the fire, an online news portal recently reported that a senior Democrat had been reported to the police for raping a woman at a hotel in Bandung during the party's national caucus in the West Java capital in May this year.

House of Representatives Speaker Marzuki Alie, himself a Democrat, said there was no truth behind any of the sex scandals. "Let the police investigate first, and only if the allegations prove to be true should any action be taken," he said.

Unfortunately for the Democrats, sex scandals are not the only problems rocking the party's boat.

The party was roundly chastised for not taking action against convicted embezzler, fugitive and sitting legislator As'ad Syam, who was finally jailed earlier this month on a Rp 4 billion corruption charge for which he had already been convicted of a year and a half earlier.

Last week, another Democrat legislator, Ruhut Sitompul, was widely condemned for proposing that the Constitution be amended to abolish the presidential term limit and allow Yudhoyono to serve a third term.

The party's leaders, including Yudhoyono, were quick to distance themselves from the call, but Ruhut's standing as the party's spokesman fueled speculation of a sinister plot to keep the Yudhoyono family in power.

Regardless of the denials, Ruhut's audacious faux pas incited a barrage of criticism from political parties and pundits.

In June, the Democrats courted more controversy when they appointed a serving election commissioner to their leadership board, in violation of the law. Andi Nurpati, the official at the center of the controversy, was promptly axed by the General Elections Commission.