Markus Junianto Sihaloho – The chairman of the People's Conscience Party, Wiranto, has denied accusations that he is attempting to topple President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his Democratic Party through the Muhammad Nazaruddin graft case, saying the claim sounded like the talk of a "panicked" party.

Democratic politician Ramadhan Pohan suggested last week that Wiranto had planted Elza Syarief, an executive with his Hanura party, as a lawyer for Nazaruddin, the former Democratic treasurer, with an eye on taking down the party and the president. Wiranto said on Saturday that he had been surprised by Ramadhan's accusation.

The Democrat also accused Wiranto, a former military chief and security affairs minister, and a one-time boss of Yudhoyono, of masterminding protests against the president, who has beaten Wiranto in two elections.

"I very much regret the accusation, which I think is very shallow, emotional and tendentious. To me, it sounds like they're extraordinarily panicked," Wiranto said.

He said he had told Hanura members not to respond to the accusations because it would only divert attention from the ongoing corruption scandal surrounding the Democratic Party.

Last week, Ramadhan criticized Elza's role as Nazaruddin's attorney, suggesting that she was behind the former party treasure's naming of current party executives as involved in corruption. Ramadhan claimed that Hanura, through Elza, was engineering Nazaruddin's naming of Democratic names in the media.

The Democrats have suffered in opinion polls as more accusations and revelations have come out about the graft case surrounding the athletes' village for last year's Southeast Asian Games.

Wiranto said Elza's tactics as Nazaruddin's lawyer had nothing to do with Hanura. He emphasized that her job had nothing to do with her party duties. He added that Nazaruddin, not Hanura, named Elza to represent him.

Another Democratic politician, Ruhut Sitompul, said Elza seemed to be playing a double role in her position with Hanura and as Nazaruddin's lawyer, with an eventual goal to put pressure on the Democratic Party.

Ruhut claimed that Wiranto was worried because his popularity continued to slide ahead of elections in 2014. "Ramadhan Pohan doesn't have to apologize. Maybe [Wiranto] is afraid of 2014 because SBY continues to shine," he said on Friday.

At a news conference on Friday, Oktasari, the chairwoman of Hanura's youth movement, called Wiranto a statesman. She said Ramadhan's accusations were strange, and that Wiranto was well-respected and it was Yudhoyono who needed to apologize for his failure to lead the country and eradicate corruption.