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The National Awakening Party said on Tuesday that the bribery case involving the Manpower Ministry has been blown out of proportion in order to smear the party’s chairman, Manpower Minister Muhaimin Iskandar.

Farhat Abbas, the lawyer for Dharnawati, the businesswoman arrested by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) for allegedly providing Rp 1.5 billion ($176,000) in bribes to two ministry officials, said last week that the cash was intended as kickbacks for Muhaimin and legislators on the House of Representatives’ Budget Committee.

Abdul Kadir Karding, a lawmaker and a senior official at the party known as PKB, accused Farhat of making false accusations against the party’s chairman. “It’s just a political game,” Kadir said. “We don’t know what his motive is. We are not afraid of it because there’s no evidence of such claim.”

A PKB official who requested anonymity told the Jakarta Globe on Tuesday that the party was suspicious about the lawyer’s motive. Farhat was a member and former legislative candidate of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) in the 2009 election. Four months ago, he quit the party and moved to the ruling Democratic Party.

“Some [PKB officials] are thinking that Muhaimin’s case could be politicized by the Democratic Party. The purpose is to divert public attention from Nazaruddin’s case,” the source said.

The source was referring to graft suspect and former Democratic Party treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin whose multi-billion rupiah case had beleaguered the Democrats.

Kadir refused to say whether his party suspected that the Democrats were behind the attack but confirmed that some PKB members felt the accusations against Muhaimin were politically motivated.

“The purpose is to weaken our party. I must tell you that we are now getting better and better, the solidity is good after years of poor coordination between us,” he said.

The PKB had been mired in internal rifts recently, with senior members including Yenny Wahid, the daughter of PKB founder and former president Abdurrahman Wahid, forming a breakaway party, the Insulinde National Prosperity Party (PKBN).

The House faction chairman of the PKB, Marwan Ja’far, said he believed Muhaimin’s name had been mentioned by ministry officials to solicit bribes from the businesswoman.

“It’s a practice in our bureaucracy that officials often drop the minister’s name. It does not only happen in the Manpower Ministry, but also in other government institutions,” he said.

Marwan added that the party would not intervene in the KPK’s investigation into the case but hoped the KPK would remain fair and neutral. “We will support our party’s general chairman for attending questioning by the KPK,” he said.

But Lily Wahid, a PKB lawmaker who has had a falling out with the party, said it was impossible Muhaimin knew nothing about bribe. “The PKB does not have much money, but how could he buy a building as big as the party’s current central office? It could be an indication,” said Lily, the sister of the late president.