The plot thickens in the saga of the leadership of the Democratic Party with an aide to party chairman Anas Urbaningrum claiming that two major political parties contributed funds to help Anas win the party chairmanship in 2010.
Democratic Party lawmaker Umar Arsal, who led Anas' campaign team for the chairmanship race for the Sulawesi region, said that Anas did not get funding for the contest from government-sponsored projects but from legitimate sources including contributions from members of the Golkar Party and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS).
He said that it was easy for Anas to gather support from other politicians simply because of Anas' tremendous charm and popularity. Umar rejected graft defendant Nazaruddin's claim that "money politics cast a shadow on Anas' campaign" as complete nonsense.
Nazaruddin, who is currently on trial for accepting bribes and masterminding a plan to rig a Southeast Asian (SEA) Games facility construction tender, has claimed that the illicit money he allegedly obtained also went into Anas' pocket and was later used to fund his campaign for the party leadership in 2010. The construction project was commissioned by the Youth and Sports Ministry.
Yulianis, a witness against Nazaruddin who recently testified before the Jakarta Corruption Court, said she was ordered by Nazaruddin to deliver around US$2 million and Rp 30 billion ($3.33 billion) from Permai Group, which was allegedly used by Nazaruddin as a proxy to win the SEA Games bid, to Bandung during the 2010 national congress to elect a new party chairman.
Yulianis said that instead of telling her that the money would be used to secure Anas' win, Nazaruddin's staff only told her that the cash was to pay for logistics at the congress.
Golkar Party senior politician Priyo Budi Santoso denied Umar's statement. "It is impossible for us to get involved in another party's chairmanship election. It is unethical," he said. "The three candidates in that race [Anas, House Speaker Marzuki Alie and Youth and Sports Minister Andi Mallarangeng] are all friends of ours," Priyo said.
PKS deputy secretary-general Mahfudz Siddiq said that Umar's statement was outrageous and made little sense. "I'd say it is an attempt to quash suggestions that the money came from the state budget and [government] projects, which are now starting to gain credibility," he said. "Our party has no interest in other parties' congresses [or chairmanships]."
He said it would be better if Umar proved his allegation."Do not just drop names and accuse other parties," he said.
Senior Democratic Party lawmaker Max Sopacua also slammed Umar. "President Yudhoyono has reminded us that the Democratic Party congress must not be tainted by money politics," he said. Max also called on Golkar and PKS to issue clarifications.
Just recently, the President was visibly angered by the decision of lawmaker Mohammad Jafar Hafsah, the Democratic Party's leader in the House, to move lawmaker Angelina Sondakh from Commission X overseeing education to Commission III overseeing the law.
Angelina was recently named a suspect in the same SEA Games bribery scandal by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) body. Jafar eventually backed down, keeping Angelina on Commission X, while denying that the proposed transfer was aimed at applying pressure on the KPK.
Contacted separately, Nazaruddin himself denied Umar's statement. "As far as I know, there was no other benefactor [neither Golkar nor PKS]," he said during a break from his graft trial on Friday.