Jakarta, Feb 24 (Antara) - Anas Urbaningrum's resignation as general
chairman of the Democratic Party (PD) after his naming as a suspect in a
sports complex development scandal will not affect the ruling party's
electability if it remains solid.
"I think it will not degrade its reputation if the Democratic Party
carries out immediate internal consolidation," political communication
expert Bachtiar Aly of the University of Indonesia said.
The alleged graft case that implicated Anas will serve as a political
lesson for all party cadres. If all cadres are able to consolidate,
remain solid and restrain from giving unnecessary response, it would not
reduce its electability in the face of the 2014 general elections.
"They key lies on the Democratic Party itself whether it is able to
remain solid and consolidate. It should not either politicize all
things," Bachtiar said.
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) named Anas Urbaningrum a
suspect for allegedly receiving a gift or making a pledge linked to the
planning and implementation of a sports complex project in Hambalang,
West Java, KPK spokesman Johan Budi said on Friday.
Following his naming as a suspect, Anas resigned as the general
chairman of the ruling Democratic Party (PD)'s Executive Board. He
officially announced his resignation at a press conference in the
party's headquarters on Saturday.
"I request for resignation as the Democratic Party's chairman. And I
thank all cadres of the Democratic Party who have given me the mandate,"
he said.
PD Chief patron Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in his capacity as the party's
Supreme Council chairman has recently said he took over reins of the
party and asked Anas to focus on his alleged legal case.
Yudhoyono took the step in an effort to salvage the party whose
electability based on a number of surveys had dropped to only about 7
to 8 percent.
The declining in the party's electability was blamed on a number of alleged scandals that implicated its cadres.
The
result of the Jakarta Survey Institute (LSJ) survey recently showed the
party's electability dropped to 6.9 percent. The survey conducted by
the Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting (SMRC) institute also showed
the declining of the party's electability to 8.3 percent.
Bachtiar said Anas move to resign from his post as the general chairman
of the PD was a logical consequence of the Integrity Pact he had
signed. The integrity pact is part of Yudhoyono's efforts to salvage and
cleanse the party from within to improve its reputation.
Therefore, Bachtiar said, PD's cadres should remain solid and restrain
from raising unnecessary opinions in public. If they could not
restrain, the party's reputation would continue to be under threat.
"It would be a good precedent if its cadres restrain from making comments and political interpretations," he said.
The same opinion was also aired by political observer Alfan Alfian of
the Akbar Tanjung Institute. He said that PD cadres should be careful in
giving response to the resignation of Anas.
He said that if PD cadres were not cautious in giving response, it would worsen the national political environment.
After all, according to political analyst Mahyudin Damis of Gorontalo's
Sam Ratulangi University, the resignation of Anas as the general
chairman of the Democratic Party will not guarantee that the
electability of the ruling party will increase.
"Anas stepped down due to his naming as a suspect in the alleged
corruption scandal which also involved other PD cadres. The people
considered that the PD was still not optimal in fighting corruption,"
Mahyudin Damis.
The PD party will continue to face difficulties in its efforts to
improve its tarnished image because it had negative image not only with
the Hambalang case but also with other cases which involved its cadres.
Damis predicted that the electability of the PD would continue to drop
until the coming general elections in 2014. It will happen if the PD
could not find a devoted figure that was able to replace Anas.
In addition, the declining electability will continue if Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono in his capacity as PD's Supreme Council's chairman is not
able to address internal conflict from the central board to its branches
in the region.
Moreover there is impression that the Democratic Party is divided into
Anas and Yudhoyono camps. Before he resigned on Saturday, Anas told a
press conference he was suspicious that a strong power had been behind
his naming as suspect in a corruption case.
"I have never been put under any status by the Corruption Eradication
Commission (KPK) so far because KPK has worked independently, not under
pressure from the media or public opinions or certain power," he said.
He said he started to think that he would be named suspect only after
KPK was urged to immediately determine his status and he was asked to
focus on dealing with his legal problems.
Only since then he said he believed he would be named suspect by the
KPK. "It means I have been declared guilty," he added.
Anas Urbaningrum also stressed that his resignation as general chairman
of the ruling Democratic Party is not the end of everything but just
the beginning of something big.
He said that it was not the end of everything but the beginning of a
big step. If compared to a book, the resignation constitutes the first
page where many pages will still follow to be read together. "I am
committed to opening the next pages to provide something more valuable
for the future of Indonesia's democracy," he said.
Political analyst Alfan Alfian is of the view that the remarks made by Anas is a form of resistance.
He said that actually Yudhoyono who is the PD's Supreme Council chairman, had perceived the aim of Anas's remarks.
"I think Yudhoyono and the Cikeas (Yudhoyono's residence) camp has
tuned in to the 'signal' so that they have to be very careful in giving
response," Alfan said adding that if the Yudhoyono and the Cikeas camp
were not cautious in giving response, the national political conditions
would worsen.
"This would create disadvantageous impact on national political activities," he said.
However,
Alfan said he had not yet seen any movements of consolidation of the
other side of the Cikeas camp. "I have not seen that far but they have
exchanged views and information," he said.***1***
(T.A014/O001)
(T.A014/A/A. Abdussalam/O. Tamindael) 24-02-2013 21:04: |
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