Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Political analysts say the Democratic Party needs a breakthrough to halt its recent popularity slide triggered by graft allegations levelled at its former treasurer, Mohammad Nazaruddin.
The statements were made in the wake of a recent survey that indicated the party's popularity was waning. In a survey conducted by the Indonesian Survey Circle in early June, only 15.5 percent of respondents supported the party, a 5-percent drop from the 20.5 percent of votes the party garnered in the 2009 general elections.
In an earlier survey by the Indonesian Survey Institute, conducted in mid-May before the Nazaruddin case surfaced, the party was supported by 18.9 percent of respondents.
"The first thing the party should do is convince Nazaruddin to come home and deal with all the allegations against him," Indonesian Survey Institute political analyst Burhanuddin Muhtadi told The Jakarta Post. However, Burhanuddin said that this alone would not be enough.
"The party should convince the public that Nazaruddin's case is just his personal matter and that the party is not involved," he said, adding that if not handled properly, it was possible that the case could bring down the party's elite, which would induce a far more serious problem for the ruling party.
Burhanuddin said the Democratic Party was far from doomed. "Recovery is not out of the question, yet. However, they will need to really think about their strategy. They will need breakthroughs," he said. One of the ways to win back support, he said, would be to influence the government to issue pro-public policies.
"Yudhoyono's [Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's] dual position as the President and the party's chief patron could mean a lot. He can issue popular policies and use them to boost the Democratic Party's popularity," Burhanuddin said.
Indonesian Sciences Institute political analyst Siti Zuhro said the Democratic Party would have to take action against Nazaruddin to regain public approval. "It all depends on whether or not the party can convince the public that they are serious about handling the Nazaruddin case," Siti told the Post.
Siti said the Golkar Party party had been damaged by a similar scandal in the months leading up to the 2009 general elections.
"Back then, news reports about unethical behavior by Golkar politicians cropped up and there were indications that [then-Golkar chairman] Jusuf Kalla was protecting them. This, in turn, resulted in Golkar's defeat by the Democratic Party in the 2009 elections," Siti said.
She said the Nazaruddin case should serve as a wake-up call for the party to crack down on other errant members, such as party executives Andi Nurpati and Jhonny Allen Marbun.
Andi was implicated in a Constitutional Court document forgery case in the 2009 general elections when she was a General Elections Commission member. Jhonny was allegedly involved in a 2009 corruption scandal related to infrastructure facilities development in eastern Indonesia.
Nazaruddin has been implicated in a bribery case centered on a SEA Games construction project in Palembang, South Sumatra. He recently fled to Singapore a day before the Law and Human Rights Ministry slapped him with a travel ban.
On Monday, after Nazaruddin failed for the second time to answer a Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) summons, KPK spokesman Johan Budi said the KPK would appreciate it if the Democratic Party helped it solve the case.
Early this month, a Democratic Party team flew to Singapore on the orders of Yudhoyono to tell Nazaruddin to return to Indonesia and face the legal system. The team returned without Nazaruddin, saying that he had to be in Singapore for medical treatment for the time being.
Democratic Party deputy secretary-general Saan Mustofa said his party had not been greatly affected by the publication of the June popularity poll. He said fluctuation in popularity was normal. (mim, swd)