"If Anas followed the scenario made by Yudhoyono, no polemics would surface later," Ulil Abshar Abdalla, chairman of the policy and strategic development center of PD, said.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Former chairman of the ruling Democratic Party (DP) Anas Urbaningrum did not agree to the scenario made by PD`s Supreme Council`s Chairman Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono during the PD congress in Bandung in 2010, a PD executive said.

"If Anas followed the scenario made by Yudhoyono, no polemics would surface later," Ulil Abshar Abdalla, chairman of the policy and strategic development center of PD, said here on Wednesday.

Ulil explained this when he told a press conference on the latest developments of the PD. The press conference carried a theme: "How to Write New Pages and Elect New Leaders."

Ulil said that Anas did not follow Yudhoyono`s suggestion that he should become the party`s secretary general.

"The scenario was this: Andi Mallarangeng was to be elected general chairman and Anas was to be named secretary general," he said.

He said that Yudhoyono did not want Anas to become general chairman of the PD. "Yudhoyono frankly said Anas was an undesired baby."

However the party accepted the victory of Anas as general chairman at that time.

"Yudhoyono loved the two cadres (Anas and Andi) very much. Therefore, he wanted the two to become leaders of the PD. But Anas did not follow it. If Anas followed it, Nazaruddin would not become the party`s general treasurer and neither would Ibas become the secretary general," he said.

Anas was elected general chairman of the PD after he defeated his rivals Andi Mallarangeng and Marzuki Alie in the PD congress in Bandung, West Java, in 2010.

But Anas resigned on February 16, 2013 after he was named a suspect in a sports complex development scandal in Hambalang, Bogor, by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

In a press conference before he resigned, Anas was viewed to have sent a resistance signal through his remarks.

He was viewed he showed his resistance when he said his resignation was not the end of everything but the beginning of something big.

He said his resignation was the first page of a book which still had many pages to be read together ahead.

Political observer Alfan Alfian of the Akbar Tanjung Istitute said that Anas was a symbol of political resistance to Yudhoyono.

"Anas has become a resistance symbol for those who do not like Yudhoyono," he said.

He said that if those who backed Anas carried out a solid consolidation, the political drama of the PD would become longer. It was not impossible that it would pose a threat to the supreme council.

"But I do not see yet things developing that far now," he added.

The anti-graft body named Anas Urbaningrum a suspect for allegedly receiving a gift or making a pledge linked to the planning and implementation of the sports complex project in Hambalang, West Java, KPK spokesman Johan Budi said in a press conference at the KPK Building on Friday, February 14, 2013.

"According to an investigation order issued today on February 22, the suspect is charged with violating Article 12 paragraph a or b or Article 11 of Law Number 31 of 1999 later changed to Law Number 20 of 2001 on corruption eradication," he said.

The Articles carry a life sentence or a minimum sentence of four to 20 years in jail and a fine of up to Rp1 billion.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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