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Democrats Plan for Life After Anas Anita Rachman & Markus Junianto Sihaloho | January 31, 2012 Ajeng Ratna Sumira, a member of the Democratic Party’s Board of Patrons, said that the status of Anas or any other cadre within the party would be reviewed once their legal status is clear. However, she said the party was also not unprepared. “There are three to four names to replace Anas,” Ajeng said. (Antara Photo/Andika Wahyu) Tlthough the Democratic Party has been reluctant to openly broach the subject of possible replacements for chairman Anas Urbaningrum, it already has names in store in case he needs to be sacrificed. Ajeng Ratna Sumira, a member of the Democratic Party’s Board of Patrons, said the status of Anas or any other cadre within the party would be reviewed once their legal status was clear. However, she denied that the party was unprepared. “There are three to four names to replace Anas,” Ajeng said. She said that since Anas’ name has been dragged into the Southeast Asian Games athletes’ village corruption case, preparing for such an eventuality was normal. Ajeng added that the party would wait for the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to declare Anas a suspect before making any decision. Anas has been accused by high-profile graft suspect Mohammad Nazaruddin and his former employee Yulianis as having received money to help his bid for the Democratic Party chairmanship in 2010. Ajeng said that because of Anas’ strong support at the grassroot level, the party would not remove him unless there was some change in his legal status that would indicate his guilt. “We are convinced that once it is clear, those at the grass root level will understand,” she said. Without naming anyone, Ajeng said that two of the candidates were ministers currently sitting in the cabinet, one a member and another a sympathizer who is not a party member. The two others were both party executives, including one sitting on the Board of Patrons. She said the candidates were mooted during a meeting on Jan. 23 in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, that was attended by 20 members of the Board of Patrons and chaired by House of Representatives Speaker Marzuki Alie. “We met first, prior to meeting, with the chairman of the Board of Patrons,” Ajeng said, referring to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. The board went to Yudhoyono’s private residence in Cikeas, West Java, on Jan. 24. Sources within the party pointed to Djoko Suyanto, coordinating minister for political, legal and defense affairs, as one of the prospective candidates. Other contenders include Transportation Minister E.E. Mangindaan, Small and Medium Enterprises Minister Syarif Hasan and party secretary general Edhie Baskoro Yudhoyono. Edhie was quick to distance himself from the rumor, saying, “In the executive board, there is no information on [the] replacement or other related things.” Meanwhile, Democratic Party deputy secretary general Saan Mustopa said the party’s advisory council had formed an ad hoc committee to investigate the allegations against Anas. It will be chaired by senior Democrat T.B. Silalahi, an adviser to Yudhoyono and a former minister. “If there is a definite finding against any [Democratic] leader, we will act on it, [even] if it involves the chairman,” Saan said. Yunarto Wijaya, from the Charta Politika political research institute, said the current internal rift surrounding what to do with Anas was a follow-up of the 2010 congress, where the results were not well received by many in the party. “The ongoing fighting now is the outcome of the congress,” Yunarto said. At the congress, Anas defeated two other candidates, Sports Minister Andi Mallarangeng and Marzuki. Yunarto said that some of the defeated refused to accept the result. Saan said that in the Democratic Party, dispute resolution was more advanced and mature than in other parties. “If, for the last few days, there have been developments, I think these are still within limits. We are just putting forward our ideas,” he said [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
