•    HOME   
•    NEWS   
•    BUSINESS   
•    INTERNATIONAL   
•    TECH   
•    SPORTS   
•    LIFE & TIMES   
•    OPINION   
•    MY JAKARTA   
•    BLOGS   
•    EYEWITNESS   

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono yesterday broke his silence on recent rifts within his Democrat Party, urging members to stay united amid a swirl of graft allegations involving several senior cadres.

He vowed to reform the party internally and suspend any cadre who had been named a graft suspect or who had violated the party’s code of conduct.

However, he appealed to members to let the law take its course, and resisted calls by some quarters to drop party chairman Anas Urbaningrum, who is in the spotlight over allegations of graft but has yet to be named a suspect by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

Anas, the President said, will not be suspended because KPK investigations are ongoing and cannot be prejudged.

But Yudhoyono’s characteristically measured remarks also gave rise to speculation that Anas’ position may not be safe for long.

“He has several times said he did no wrong and was not involved in the accusations of corruption and money politics. I believe him, unless the KPK says otherwise,” the President said of Anas.

“Now he has to take the responsibility and communicate to the public to protect his party and its cadres.”

Yudhoyono’s remarks at a press conference at his home in Cikeas, West Java, come amid reports of dissatisfaction among a number of senior party members that Anas continues to stay put as claims of wrongdoing intensify. The members fear that this could further dent the Democrats’ already-battered image.

Separately, the Indonesian Survey Institute yesterday released a poll showing the Democrats were the third most popular party, with support at 13.7 per cent, down from 20.5 per cent a year ago.

Significantly, the President acknowledged that these claims of wrongdoing were at the root of declining public support for the Democrats over the past eight months. But he said: “Corruption and allegations of graft are not reflective of the party as a whole.”

The allegations first came to light last May, when former party treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin fled the country just as he was to be named a suspect in a bribery scandal over the construction of the athletes’ village in Palembang for last year’s SEA Games.

His trial, which is now ongoing, has cast the spotlight on Mr Anas as well as several other Democrat leaders. These include Sports and Youth Minister Andi Mallarangeng, deputy chairman of Parliament’s Budget Committee Mirwan Amir and MP Angelina Sondakh, who was named a suspect on Friday.

Yudhoyono expressed confidence that the 10-year-old party would tide over the crisis. He urged members to stay clean even as he noted that older parties too had cadres who had done wrong.

His remarks come as anti-graft watchdog Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) released a study showing there were 436 detected cases of corruption involving 1,053 suspects last year, with losses to the country estimated at 2.17 trillion rupiah (S$304 million). Of the suspects, 239 were civil servants, and 99 were MPs or members of provincial Parliaments.

“Remuneration policies, even with recent bureaucratic reforms, clearly have not been effective in reducing corrupt behaviour by civil servants,” said ICW investigation coordinator Agus Sunaryanto.

“This also shows the failure of internal oversight bodies to pre-empt irregularities,” he added.

Reprinted courtesy of Straits Times Indonesia. To subscribe to Straits Times Indonesia and/or the Jakarta Globe call 021 2553 5055.