Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – The Democratic Party hopes to open a new chapter in its story of internal rifts, with the party's chief patron President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono summoning party leaders on Tuesday to find a way to rebuild the party's tarnished image.
Yudhoyono is deeply concerned with intensifying internal rifts triggered by numerous high-profile graft cases, including that of former party treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin.
The party's elite members arrived at the President's private residence in Cikeas, West Java, to discuss the fate of party chairman Anas Urbaningrum, who has allegedly been involved in several graft cases.
It is common for Yudhoyono, who is also known as a "safe player", to talk with as many stakeholders as possible when it comes to "politically sensitive" matters, to reach a decision that he believes will create minimal political turbulence.
"The media has continued reporting the graft cases, particularly the ones implicating our chairman. That is disturbing our party's image. We need to talk about it. In the end, the party's chief patron will make a decision," said party patron and Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises Minister Syariefuddin Hasan before the Cikeas meeting.
The popularity of the Democratic Party, which used the slogan "Clean and Intelligent" in the 2009 elections, has continued to drop following the cases, according to surveys.
Another party patron, Achmad Mubarok, also known as an Anas supporter, was quick to respond to Syariefuddin's comment. "Some party elites have whispered to Yudhoyono about Anas, attempting to convince the party's chief patron to ask Anas to resign. The rivalry from the last party chairmanship election is still there," Mubarok said.
Syariefuddin was a campaigner for Youth and Sports Minister Andi Mallarangeng, who has also been implicated in graft cases that allegedly took place during the party's 2010 election.
Party patron and House of Representatives Speaker Marzuki Alie, another losing candidate in the election, denied he had proposed that Anas resign from his post.
Anas' position has been in jeopardy since the Nazaruddin case emerged in 2011. Dismissing Anas, however, would require an extraordinary congress that would likely be "politically too noisy", which would not be to Yudhoyono's liking.
Asking Anas to resign or temporally suspending him would both be a better option, said some party executives, even though Anas and his supporters have kept up his defense.
At least three names are said to have been proposed to Yudhoyono as prospective new chairmen (or interim chairmen) should Anas resign or be suspended. They are party patron and lawmaker Hayono Isman, Peoples Consultative Assembly (MPR) deputy speaker Melani Leimena and East Java Governor Soekarwo.
Melani was said to be close to Yudhoyono's family and thus would be "easier to control". The other two, meanwhile, were believed to be neutral and have no specific support to certain blocs within the party and thus could "cool" the heating rifts.
Anas himself has repeatedly played down the issue, saying that he respected legal processes and claiming that his party was still solid.
Anas has been accused of benefiting from many state budget-funded projects, including the construction of an athletes' village for the 2011 SEA Games, worth Rp 161 billion (US$17.87 million) and a sports complex in Hambalang, West Java, worth more than Rp 1.5 trillion.
Beside Anas, alleged illicit practices of party executives and lawmakers Angelina Sondakh, Mirwan Amir and Sutan Bhatoegana have also been revealed by defendants and witnesses in Nazaruddin's cases.
It was not the first time Democratic Party elites were involved in rifts since the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) busted a high-profile bribery incident connected to the construction of an athletes' village for the 2011 SEA Games.
Anas' supporters within the party's executives defended notorious businessman Nazaruddin, who had significantly helped finance Anas' bid in the party's chairmanship race in 2010.
But support for Nazaruddin failed to salvage him from dismissal. Nazaruddin fled to several countries before Interpol caught him in Colombia in August 2011.