ANAS EXPECTED TO OVERCOME "DYNASTY" POLITICS

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, May 26 (ANTARA) - The election of Anas Urbaningrum to the chairmanship of the Democrat Party (PD) has allayed  fears the party would eventually be controlled by a "dynasty" but to definitively kill these fears the  party's new 'skipper' should be able to free himself from the patronage of the party's chief adviser  Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, experts say.          "The Democrat Party does not vulgarly apply dynasty politics like the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), so that Anas  has no major problem to develop the PD into a modern political party. He can  do it as long as he does not make Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono the object of a personalized cult," Prof. Dr Ronny Pariela of the Ambon-based Pattimura University (Unatti), said on Wednesday.          After all, Anas is not a special 'prince' or a family member of Yudhoyono. His election to chair the party simply indicates that the perception among the public that the Democrat Party could turn into a dynasty party is losing ground.          "Anas was elected chairman of the Democrat Party not because he is a family or a close relative member or a 'golden boy' of Yudhoyono but because he was elected through a genuine democratic process," political analyst Syaiful of West Sumatra's University of Andalas (Unand) said meanwhile.          Therefore, he said, the public believed that Anas Urbaningrum is able to build the Democrat Party into a modern political party. In this case, Anas should have the courage to free himself from Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's patronage to develop the party in the future.          "Anas should emerge from Yudhoyono's shadows. It means that he must be  brave enough to make his own decisions and take his own positions, although he should continue to give a place to Yudhoyono," noted historian Anhar Gonggong said.          The noted historian was of the opinion that Anas Urbaningrum should be able to prove that the party was capable of continuing to win the hearts of the people without Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.          It was undeniable that Yudhoyono was the decisive factor in the  Democrat Party's consecutive wins  in the past two general elections in Indonesia but Anas had  gradually to try to end this dependence, he said.           Pariela even reminded that Anas should not use Yuhoyono who had been named as the general chairman of the party's highest assembly in its second congress recently as the main symbol of the party.          "He should carry out nationalist politics management so that the Democrat Party would not undergo erosion of public confidence like what has been experienced by PDIP which puts Megawati Soekarnoputri as a personalized cult leader," Pariela said.          He said that the discourse on the idea to pick Yudhoyono's son Edhie Baskoro Yudhoyono for the party's secretary general's post in the coming five years, Pariela said it did not reflect dynasty politics.          "It is a kind of caderization with the aim of crowning Baskoro who indeed has the capability and capacity as reflected in his success to organize the congress that proceeded democratically," he said.          What is important is that Anas must improve the party's internal management and build qualified cadres.          According to Anhar Gonggong, besides strengthening the party's internal management, Anas should also find a figure who could emulate  Yudhoyono's success in winning the hearts of both the domestic and international communities.          He added that Anas's efforts to find a figure to replace Yudhoyono would be a key factor for the Democrat Party to win the 2014 presidential election.          "Anas is too little known to be nominated for president in the 2014 election. Therefore, there should be another figure who is able to convince the Indonesian people, and also win the support of the international community," Anhar said.          Syaiful in the meantime said that the Democrat Party would be able to win election if Anas is successful in building the party with his calm, mature and educated leadership style.         "The Democrat Party will win a general election of a presidential election if Anas is able to lead the party with his calm, mature and educated leadership style," Syaiful said.          He added that the Democrat Party would win if Anas could maintain his acceptable profile to all circles, including those in the networks of the Indonesian Muslim Students Association (HMI), nationalists and academicians.          More important is that he should not forget the people interest. Thus, historian Anhar Gonggong expressed hope that Anas Urbaningrum would be able to make the Democrat Party struggle for the people's interest, because there was the impression the  Democrat Party had yet to improve  the "color" of national politics.          "In my view, the Democrat Party is just like the other political parties that have yet to make any significant difference in the country," Anhar said.          Anas Urbaningrum, currently chairman of the party faction in the House of Representatives, was on Sunday elected general chairman of the Democrat Party for the 2010-2015 term after a vote in which he beat two other candidates, Marzuki Alie, the present Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Andi Malarangeng, the current sports and youth affairs minister.      (T.A014/A/HAJM/16:05/a014) 26-05-2010 16:31:1