Jakarta – Democratic Party chairman Anas Urbaningrum is warning his opponents that he is still in charge of the party and any efforts to topple him will fail.

"The party remains intact, solid and united. I am convinced that all attempts to divide us will fail, 100 percent failure," Anas said over the weekend as quoted by kompas.com.

Anas comments come after the latest indication of his isolation from the party's elite. On Tuesday, party chief patron President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono hosted a meeting with local party leaders in Cikeas, Bogor, West Java, without Anas present.

The meeting was reportedly held to develop a strategy to restore the party's tarnished image after a series of high-profile graft scandals have implicated the party's lawmakers, ministers and senior leaders, some of who fled the nation rather than face justice. Sources at the meeting who declined to be named said that no local party leaders wanted action to be taken against Anas.

In a subsequent meeting with the party's founding members on Wednesday, Yudhoyono delivered a speech that was considered by observers as a veiled attack against Anas. "It's better for all members who fail to practice clean, smart and decent politics to leave the Democratic Party immediately," Yudhoyono said.

Anas was again absent from the party's internal meeting at the Sahid Jaya Hotel in Jakarta on Thursday, and, in a departure from common practice, his face did not appear on banners erected outside the hotel to greet participants.

Anas, however, backed up Yudhoyono in a statement released to the media, describing the President's statement to the party's founding members as "a guideline for all members. We believe that that is true," Anas said.

Separately, Democratic Party patron Hayono Isman reiterated a call for Anas to step down immediately. "This is a critical moment for the party and the central board needs to respond to this immediately. The central board needs to hold an internal meeting to save the party," Hayono told reporters on Sunday.

Hayono said that although Anas had not yet been named suspect in any graft case, the public's association of Anas with corruption allegations had contributed significantly to the deterioration of the party's good image.

The silence of the party's patron board on the Southeast Asian Games athletes' village scandal, which has implicated Youth and Sports Minister Andi Mallarangeng, could be attributed to Andi's relatively less important position in the party, Hayono said.

Andi would automatically be stripped from his post in the party board of patrons if found guilty of corruption, Hayono said. "But remember the position of party chairman is central to the party and the public focuses on him."

According to political observers, Anas' close ties with party members at the grassroots level has given him leverage in his fight against the party's patrons. Anas is also reputed to possess crucial information on the role of Yudhoyono's family in politics that might be damaging if it was disclosed to the public. (fzm)