Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – The Democratic Party (PD) has banned its members from joining the Indonesian Movement Association (PPI), a mass organization said to be the new political vehicle of the party's ousted chairman, Anas Urbaningrum.
PD executive chairman Syarief Hasan said on Saturday that all party members should focus on boosting the party's electability ahead of the 2014 elections, adding that their involvement in Anas' organization would undermine that effort. "We fear that our concentration will be divided [if they join the mass organization]," he told The Jakarta Post.
Anas is slated to launch the PPI at his home in Duren Sawit, East Jakarta, on Sunday. Many of Anas' loyalists, including those from the Democratic Party and the powerful Islamic Students Association (HMI) are expected to attend the organization's launch, according to Anas' aide, former Cilacap Democratic Party head Tridianto.
Anas is a former chairman of the HMI, deemed the country's most powerful students' organization.
Syarief said the party did not forbid PD members from attending the PPI's event, but made it clear they should not be active in the organization. "The aim of the party is to accommodate Anas' friends and loyalists who are now in disarray after his resignation," he said.
Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) political analyst Siti Zuhro believes Anas has a grander plan aside from simply accommodating his friends with the new organization. "He has an obsession [about politics]. There's no way a politician who made his way to the top [of a political party] wouldn't have an obsession. So it hasn't been completely buried yet," she said.
Siti also pointed out Anas' relatively young age of 44 as well as his past experience as chairman of both the HMI and the PD as the driving force behind his ambition in the political world.
She said it was likely Anas' end goal was his own political party. "If someone wants to gain power then he or she has to have a political party because our laws don't accommodate potential leaders through alternative means," Siti said.
Siti also said the new organization could pose a threat to the PD, as there were still many Anas loyalists within the party thanks to his grassroots campaigning methods.
Despite being a threat to the PD, Anas' new organization would eventually benefit the political situation in the country, Siti said, reasoning that a little competition never hurt anyone.
Anas has been charged with corruption for his alleged role in the Hambalang sports complex scandal. His attempt to return to politics could end as soon as it begins as the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has said it would detain him after it received a Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) report outlining the state losses in the Hambalang project.