Bagus T Saragih, Jakarta – After spending the night in silence following the Corruption Eradication Commission's (KPK) announcement that he had been named a suspect, Anas Urbaningrum has finally announced his resignation from the post of the Democratic Party chief.

"My personal ethical standards, which run in harmony with the party's integrity pact, led me to quit my job as party chief once the KPK had named me a suspect. I officially announce my resignation from the post," Anas told a press conference on Saturday.

Anas then thanked everyone in the party for their support throughout the last two-and -a-half-years. He expected that whoever would replace him as party chairman would be able to perform better than he did.

Commenting on his legal status as a graft suspect, Anas unveiled that despite the accusations of his involvement in graft cases, he was confident that he would be cleared.

Anas said that he had nothing to worry about simply because he had nothing to do with the accusations, which were mainly made by former party colleague Muhammad Nazaruddin, who had been sentenced to prison over graft accusations.

"I knew that I would be named a suspect after the two were announcements made, the first announcement urging the KPK to immediately define my legal status and the second going even further by ordering me to focus on my legal problems, as if I had already been named a suspect," he said.

Anas was referring to Democratic Party chief patron Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who made the two announcements.

Therefore, Anas rest assured that his legal status was the result of political work rather than law enforcement. "It doesn't take a genius to be able to see that my case is more political action than legal action," he said.

Anas then cited that from a political perspective, his legal status could be seen as the climax of the internal resentment that he had sensed from the moment he claimed the chairman post in 2010. "I have felt that my chairmanship was actually unwanted," he said.

But then he refused to elaborate, saying that there will be a proper time for him to unveil the rest of the story.

At the end of his speech, Anas said that what has happened to him was only the beginning, and was still very far from the end. "This is like opening the first page of a book. There are so many pages waiting to be unveiled," he said.

The statement then opened the possibility that more party officials could be found guilty in days to come. (dic)