Ref: Rupanya sejarah mengulang, dulu HM Soeharto waktu sehabis kunjungannya di Afrika, december 1997, yang diperpendek karena rakyat protes tiap hari, beliau singgah di Arab Saudia untuk berdoa guna menyelamatkan kekuasaannya, tapi rupanya Allah tidak terima doanya, maka bulan Mei turun tachta. SBY berkunjung ke Afrika, kembali dari sana mampir ke Arab Saudia untuk minta pertolongan Allah, tetapi apakah Allah mengabulkan permintaannya agar PDnya tetap gagah sekalipun dilanda berbagai macam skandal korupsi. Pertanyaan yang timbul ialah apakah Allah akan menolong SBY? Waktu akan menceritakan..
http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5169&Itemid=175 Can Prayer Save Indonesia's SBY From Scandal? Written by Our Correspondent Thursday, 07 February 2013 SBY and Anas: That was then. In Mecca, the president asks Allah to lend a hand With his ruling political party in a shambles due to the continuing impact of several scandals, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono appealed to a higher power this week, sending a text message from Mecca asking party leaders to pray for Allah's guidance. The message, sent as the President and First Lady Ani Yudhoyono were on the minor Haj, or Umroh, Tuesday, came as a disappointment to leaders of the Democratic Party, who have been hoping for deliverance of a different kind. They want the president to have party chairman Anas Urbaningrum removed from his post in light of his links to a spreading embezzlement scandal involving a massive sports complex project. "I am writing right before the Kaaba at the Masjidil Haram in Mecca. During my visit in this holy land, I have been asking God for help and assistance so that our beloved party can be immediately released from the difficult tests we have been facing these days," Yudhoyono's text message said, according to the Jakarta Post newspaper. "I hope you follow my lead in praying to God so that He can immediately find a solution that is proper, wise and dignified," Yudhoyono went on. Yudhoyono had said earlier he would sort things out after his pilgrimage. Anas, who has been implicated by witnesses and investigators in the scandal but has yet to be arrested, has so far refused to step down from his post despite widespread calls for him to do so as the party's popularity appears to be heading off a cliff. "The party's falling electability has not been caused by a single factor," he said Wednesday, which was taken as a sign he was digging in his heels. This week, Democratic Party cabinet ministers joined the call for Yudhoyono to do something, perhaps by opening a party congress, which would provide an opportunity to oust Anas. Yudhoyono is the chief patron and de fact leader of the party, which was created ahead of the 2004 elections as a vehicle for his presidential ambitions. The party quickly rose to a position of dominance following Yudhoyono's landslide second term victory in 2009, but most analysts think the party faces a battering in the 2014 legislative polls, which could prevent Yudhoyono from having a major influence in positioning a candidate to run for the presidency later the same year. He will have to step down after two terms. Close Yudhoyono ally Jero Wacik, the current mining minister, on Sunday said there was major discord in the party and asked Yudhoyono to act, according to press reports. "I ask that the president immediately intervene to rescue the Democrats, because if he doesn't, the party will be destroyed," Jero said after an opinion poll was published predicting the Democrats would fall to the No. 3 position in the 2014 race. "For almost a year now we've been hearing stories about Anas. The impact from that has been detrimental to the Democrats' popularity," Jero said. The main scandal concerns the misappropriation of about $120 million for the construction of a sports complex in West Java. Other aspects of the mess involve rigged bidding for sports construction projects in Palembang, Sumatra ahead of the 2011 Southeast Asian Games. The muck has already snared former party treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin, a close confidant and business partner of Anas, whose soap opera flight from prosecution and threats to blow the whistle on party officials last year sent panic into the highest reaches of the party. Before he was apprehended in South America, Nazaruddin through his lawyer even threatened to implicate the president's youngest son in the scandal. Nazaruddin has already been convicted of graft and is in prison. One of the Democratic lawmakers he named, former Miss Indonesia Angelina Sondakh, has also been convicted of corruption. The taint moved closer to Yudhoyono himself in December when presidential protégé and one-time reform champion Andi Mallarangeng resigned as sports minister after being named a suspect in the scandal. Officials of his ministry have already been jailed by the powerful Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). The scandal, which most insiders say has mainly to do with funding the Democratic Party rather than simple theft, could tarnish Yudhoyono's legacy. In the worst case, he could be vulnerable to investigations after he steps down from office. "If Yudhoyono loses the power to influence the 2014 elections, he could also lose the ability to protect himself and his family after he leaves office," said a seasoned political observer in Jakarta. "But if he acts against Anas, the scandal might only worsen once Anas ends up in court." If that should happen, prayer might become Yudhoyono's best comfort. +++++ http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/seeking-gods-guidance-sby-says-end-to-democrats-woes-in-sight/570165 Seeking God’s Guidance, SBY Says End to Democrats’ Woes in Sight Ezra Sihite | February 07, 2013 President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, center in white shirt, prays in front of the tomb of the Prophet Muhammad at Nabawi Mosque in Medina, Saudi Arabia, in this Feb. 5 file photo. (Photo from presidenri.go.id) After praying on a minor hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono claims to have arrived at the solution to ending his Democratic Party’s internal divisions and declining popularity. The president said he had prayed in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, for God’s help to find the best solutions for the party, which has increasingly been buffeted by corruption allegations and news of conflict among the party's leadership. But Yudhoyono, the founder of the party, will wait for the right time to reveal the grand plan. “Alhamdulillah [praise be to God], I rationally asked for God’s guidance and I have the options and solutions. I need to talk about it first once I return to Indonesia. It is not good if I deliver it [the solution] here before I meet with other cadres,” he said on Thursday. The president admitted that he had sent a text message to the party’s top officials and cadres. On Tuesday, media outlets were abuzz with news that Yudhoyono was seeking solutions to the Democratic Party’s travails via prayer. “My intention was to ask party cadres to pray together with me while I was in Mecca and Medina,” Yudhoyono said. He denied that party chairman Anas Urbaningrum, who is currently in the hot seat over multiple corruption allegations, was excluded from receiving the message, as reported by local media. Yudhoyono said he sent the text message to all members of Democratic Party’s High Assembly. “I am the chairman of the assembly and Anas is my deputy. Don’t make it as if I did not send him a text. I sent it to all top officials so we can pray together for our Democratic Party to find the solutions to face the obstacles,” he explained, adding that the High Assembly’s nine members include leaders of central executive board (DPP) and two deputy chairmen. Yudhoyono returned to Jakarta on Thursday after a week of state visits to Liberia, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, during which he attended bilateral meetings and international conferences. He did not hold a press conference upon arriving on Thursday afternoon at the Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in East Jakarta, as he typically has done after long trips abroad. A top Democratic Party official, Syarifuddin Hasan, said Yudhoyono had not yet invited senior members to discuss the problems surrounding the ruling party. However, the Democrats’ High Assembly secretary, Jero Wacik, said he would visit Yudhoyono’s private residence in Cikeas, West Java, to report to the president on Thursday night. A recent survey conducted by Saiful Mujani Research & Consulting found that Democrats’ electability had dropped to just 8 percent. That compares with the 20.8 percent of votes that the party won in the 2009 legislative elections. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
