Hans Nicholas Jong and Yulia Sri Perdani, Jakarta – Things have become considerably easier for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono following the stunning fall from grace of Anas Urbaningrum after he was named a graft suspect on Friday.

The path has been cleared for Yudhoyono, the chief patron and chief of the supreme assembly of the Democratic Party, to replace Anas, who he recently suspended as chairman of the party, despite the support that Anas has received from the party's local branches.

The path has also been cleared for Yudhoyono to appoint his son or his brother-in-law to lead the Democrats.

The party's deputy secretary-general, Ramadhan Pohan, said that he was shocked and saddened by the Corruption Eradication Commission's (KPK) decision to name Anas a suspect. He said that he wanted the party to move forward, claiming that the Democratic Party has a mechanism in place to appoint a new leader.

"Let the supreme assembly decide on the new developments," Ramadhan told The Jakarta Post on Friday evening.

Yudhoyono effectively took over as party chief following perceptions that the filing of formal charges against Anas was inevitable. Party insiders have said that it was likely that Yudhoyono would tap his younger son, Edhie "Ibas" Baskoro Yudhoyono, or his brother-in-law and Army chief Gen. Pramono Edhie Wibowo to replace Anas.

"We believe that the best solution that the chief of the supreme assembly [Yudhoyono] can take will be to ensure the unity and prominence of the Democratic Party in the future," Ibas said in a press release.

While Anas refused to talk to the media after he was named a suspect, his close friend Adhi Ferdya, who spoke on his behalf to reporters outside Anas' home on Friday, pleaded for time. "[On Saturday], Pak Anas will explain his position to the media at party headquarters," Adhi said.

Anas's previous statements have returned to haunt him. In March last year, he boasted that he was ready to be hanged atop the National Monument (Monas) in Central Jakarta if he was found guilty of accepting bribes.

The 43-year-old does not face capital punishment in the Hambalang scandal – merely a sentence of 20 years' imprisonment. The KPK's decision to name Anas a suspect in the case was long anticipated.

"Based on the several case exposes we have conducted – including the one today – in the investigation related to charges of accepting gratuities or making promises related to the development of the Hambalang sports center and other projects, the KPK is declaring [Anas] a suspect," KPK spokesman Johan Budi told a packed press conference at the commission's headquarters on Friday evening. Johan did not say when Anas would be detained.

The scandal revolves around gratuities, bribery and the misallocation of government funds for the 1.17 trillion (US$121 million) project to build the sports center in Bogor, West Java. Several big names in the Democratic Party and other political parties have been implicated in the case.

Disgraced former lawmaker and current corruption convict Muhammad Nazaruddin, who was also previously the Democratic Party's treasurer, has alleged that several politicians have accepted bribes in the scandal for which he was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment.

Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo came to the KPK's office on Tuesday to be questioned as a material witness in the scandal.

Johan said that the decision to name Anas a suspect had been unanimously approved by all five of the KPK's leaders. "Please do not link this case to the political process," Johan said.

When asked to elaborate on scandals other than Hambalang, such as a Toyota Harrier vehicle that Anas allegedly accepted as a bribe few years ago, Johan equivocated. "Let's not talk about the subject now."

Rise and fall of Anas Urbaningrum

• Place and date of birth: Blitar; July 15, 1969
• Chairman of HMI (1997-1999)
• Member of a Team to Revise Political Law (Team 7) 1998
• Team member for the selection of 1999 general election participants (Team 11)
• Member of the General Election Commission (2001-2005)
• Head of Democratic Party's committee on politics and regional autonomy (2005)
• Head of the National Collective Leadership Council of the KAHMI (2009)
• Chairman of Democratic Party faction at the House of Representatives (2009-2010)
• Elected as chairman of Democratic Party on May 23, 2010
• KPK declares Anas a suspect on Feb. 22, 2013

Source: The Jakarta Post