Bagus BT Saragih dan Dicky Christanto, Jakarta – Democratic Party chairman Anas Urbaningrum still enjoys support from the party's regional branches despite his alleged involvement in Muhammad Nazaruddin's Rp 191.7 billion graft scandal.
The regional support for Anas was obvious during his recent road show to Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara; Indramayu, West Java; and Pontianak, West Kalimantan.
"This has made the party's chief patron, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, unable to formulate a swift decision concerning Anas' position as party chairman," said Ajeng Ratna Suminar, a member of the party's patron board, on Monday.
"Our chief patron must have thought whether to replace Anas. The support for Anas, including that among grassroots members, is still powerful. If that was not the case, Anas might have been replaced days ago," said Ajeng, who is also a lawmaker.
During Nazaruddin's trial, witnesses have referred to the alleged involvement of Anas in the company, which is the subject of the scandal.
Witnesses, for example, told trial hearings that Anas had illicitly benefited from the construction of an athletes' village for the 2011 SEA Games, worth Rp 161 billion (US$18.03 million).
Party executives have voiced concerns over the party's deteriorating image caused by the constant media reports on Anas, even though the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has yet to name Anas a suspect.
Party elites have proposed that Anas be dismissed or at least temporarily suspended, but Yudhoyono had reportedly downplayed the issue. Yudhoyono is known as a "safe player" who often takes his time to reach decisions that he believes will create minimal political turbulence.
Suspending Anas before the KPK made him a suspect could exacerbate the party's already damaged image of solidity, given the dominance of Anas' supporters at the local level, Burhanuddin Muhtadi, a political observer from the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI), said.
"After becoming party chair in 2010, Anas moved quickly to consolidate party members at local levels. I can say that about 85 percent of Democratic Party chapters at provincial, regency and municipal levels are now controlled by Anas' men," Burhanuddin said.
"The option to initiate an extra-ordinary congress to oust Anas would also be virtually impossible. Such an initiative must be supported by at least two-thirds of party officials down to local levels, who mostly consist of Anas' supporters," he added.