Zakir Hussain – When Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono took direct control of his Democratic Party's reins a fortnight ago, many cheered the fact that the former general was now in command. Now, they grudgingly back his hesitation to push for a leadership shake-up.

The mission remains the same: How best to restore the Democrats' rapidly declining image while holding the 12-year-old mothership together amid shrinking popularity ratings.

As Yudhoyono took the helm, expectations were high that a leadership shake-up was imminent and that chairman Anas Urbaningrum, facing allegations of graft many blame for tanking the party's fortunes, would be unseated.

But in what is now seen as a tactical retreat forced by supporters of Anas, Yudhoyono, who chairs the Democrats' high council, on Sunday quashed speculation that Anas would go.

Several days on, party elders have closed ranks once again. But expect tension to roil the party in the months ahead as aspirants to leadership combat for greater say, as the Democrats still enjoy the advantage of incumbency in next year's elections for Parliament – the real battlefield – even as Yudhoyono cannot run again.

The calculation among those in the President's circle, it seems, was that while removing Anas might help the party – a recent survey that prompted this round of conflict gave it only 8 percent of votes, down from 2009's 21 percent – such a move is still premature as it would alienate the grassroots where he is popular, harming the Democrats further.

"This is a bit of an anti-climax. But the President is taking a peaceful way out," political observer Salim Said of the National Defense University told The Straits Times.

"There's apparently resistance from people considered to be Anas' supporters, so the President concludes that if he does something to Anas now, it will break the party."

As the latest round of tensions surfaced, Yudhoyono said his taking charge would give Anas time to focus on legal matters, amid leaks that the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) would soon indict the chairman.

The President summoned all 148 party legislative members two weeks ago to his home to sign an "integrity pact" to declare their wealth, be honest, and agree to resign if named suspects. Anas, who left the House in 2010 to focus on party work, was absent and said he was ill. Several emboldened party leaders called on him to resign as chairman.

But some in his camp saw his absence as a sign of protest at the President's move, and called it high-handed and autocratic.

It did not help that last Thursday, Yudhoyono's son and party secretary-general, Edhie "Ibas" Baskoro Yudhoyono, resigned as a lawmaker to focus on party matters.

With tensions running high ahead of a meeting of branch leaders across the country on Sunday, Anas embraced Yudhoyono, who said, "The press and many commentators have pitted me as chief patron against Anas as chairman. Yet we both still sit together in the high council. I head that, Anas is my deputy.

"Led by the chairman alone, it would not have been effective," he added of the bid to lift the party's prospects. "That is why I came down to help overcome this crisis."

Said Anas, "There's no need for further interpretation." It remains to be seen whether the KPK will indict him. Democrats' lawmakers and branch leaders dismiss reports of conflict between a pro-Yudhoyono faction and a pro-Anas faction as a problem of perception, but analysts say the camps are too blatant to ignore.

History is one guide to how things may shape up: It is an open secret that party leaders were dismayed that Anas, a former student leader, beat Parliament Speaker Marzuki Alie and former youth minister Andi Mallarangeng to the chair's post in 2010, and these feelings linger. Mallarangeng resigned in December after being indicted for graft.

Ambition is another. Marbawi Katon of Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting told The Straits Times, "If the conflict between the [Yudhoyono] and Anas factions fails to be managed, it will be harder for the Democrats to raise their electability. What's happening internally is not just about this dynamic, but a power struggle for positions in 2014."

Said analyst Hanta Yuda, "The potential for greater turbulence in the months ahead is high."