Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – A group of loyalists to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono have been appointed as members of the interim collective leadership of the Democratic Party.

The move follows the resignation of party chairman Anas Urbaningrum on Saturday.

The four Democratic Party politicians – party chairman deputies Max Sopacua and Jhonny Alen Marbun, secretary-general Edhie "Ibas" Baskoro Yudhoyono and party executive director Toto Riyanto – will be in charge of the party until an extraordinary party congress is held to elect a new chairman.

The decision was made following a closed-door meeting involving the Democratic Party's supreme assembly that lasted until the early hours of Sunday.

"The Democratic Party's central board will continue to operate although the former chairman has decided to step down. The supreme assembly has appointed [the four individuals] to temporarily take over his responsibilities with the help of the chairman of the assembly," Toto said, the last referring to Yudhoyono.

Toto said the supreme assembly declined to directly respond to an accusation from Anas that the move against him was orchestrated by rival politicians within the party.

The supreme assembly acknowledged Anas' contribution to the party despite "the Democratic Party struggling under his leadership". "The party still wishes him the best although he attacked us. We hold out hope that he will be proven not guilty of the charges," Toto added.

Anas announced on Saturday that he would step down as the party chairman, only one day after the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) named him a suspect in a graft scandal surrounding the construction of a sports center in Hambalang, West Java.

He said that the KPK's decision was part of a systematic political plot against him. Anas said he had expected the KPK to make such a decision as soon as the Democratic Party's chief patron, Yudhoyono, and the party's supreme assembly issued policies to restore the party's reputation and electability earlier this month. One of the policies was to demand Anas' resignation if he was named a graft suspect.

"It doesn't take a genius to connect the dots and see all of these actions have been orchestrated against me," Anas said.

The KPK charged Anas for allegedly accepting a gratuity from the construction firm that won the tender for the sports complex project during his time as a lawmaker with the House of Representatives' Commission X overseeing sports in 2009. Anas vowed to fight a long battle to prove his innocence.