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Rough road ahead as PDI-P forms controversial new board
Jakarta Post - April 12, 2015
With the prerogative to pick whoever she wanted for the party's central board, Megawati kept many of the same faces from her 2010-2015 tenure, including those who had already been named graft suspects.
Megawati said loyalty weighed most heavily in her decision regarding which party officials to appoint to the central board. "I will slaughter him, if he dares betray me," Megawati said of her choice for the party's secretary-general Hasto Kristiyanto.
The party's commitment to promote corruption eradication, which was reiterated throughout the congress in Sanur, Bali, seemed to be nothing more than an empty slogan as many politicians with controversial reputations – namely Idham Samawi, Rokhmin Dahuri and Olly Dondokambey along with a new face, Bambang Dwi Hartono – appeared on the list of party executives.
Idham and Bambang have been named suspects for embezzlement and accepting gratuities, while Olly, who chairs the PDI-P faction at the House of Representatives, has been questioned by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) for allegedly accepting bribes for increasing the amount of funding allocated to the construction of the Hambalang sports center in West Java.
Idham serves as head of the party's membership while Bambang is head of the party's election campaign team.
Idham, a former Bantul regent in Yogyakarta, has been named a suspect by the Yogyakarta Prosecutor's Office for allegedly embezzling Rp 12.5 billion (US$967,000) from the National Sports Council (KONI) in 2011. Bambang, former deputy mayor of Surabaya, has been named a suspect for giving gratuities worth Rp 720 million to a councilor at the Surabaya Legislative Council (DPRD).
Meanwhile, Rokhmin Dahuri, who was appointed leader of the PDI-P maritime affairs division, was sentenced to seven years imprisonment in 2007 for abusing his power as then maritime affairs and fisheries minister to illegally collect Rp 11.5 billion from regional offices within the ministry. He was released on parole in 2009 for good behavior.
"We are aware of the criticisms regarding their appointment. We defend them because the cases that ensnared them were highly political in nature," Hasto said on Saturday.
Hasto said the PDI-P had gathered enough evidence to prove that the prosecution against Idham, Rokhmin, Olly and Bambang was politically motivated.
When introducing Bambang to the audience, Megawati said: "He is actually a bad boy but he is very loyal. He also has good leadership skills, although self-control is sometimes an issue if he has nothing to play with."
Megawati then referred to Olly as a money maker. "He is known as a Don because his pockets always rattle," she said, referring to Olly's ability to deliver the goods to the party.
It was her concern about loyalty that prompted Megawati to exclude several names, such as Bambang Wuryanto, Effendi Simbol on, Maruarar Sirait and Pramono Anung, from the new management, according to sources within the PDI-P.
Although Megawati did not elaborate on her reasons for excluding such familiar faces, she highlighted that she had carefully selected the candidates, leaving out individuals with questionable loyalty and the potential to divide the party.
Bambang, who led the energy and mining division in the 2010-2015 term, is the leader of the PDI-P branch in Central Java, one of the regions that contributed the highest number of votes during the 2014 elections.
Central Java is also the electoral district of Megawati's daughter Puan Maharani. Puan, however, gave up her legislative seat after being appointed coordinating human development and culture Minister by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo.
Like Effendi, Bambang seems to be critical of Jokowi, which many believe is jeopardizing the PDI-P's stance as the ruling party.
Meanwhile, Maruarar, a lawmaker from the House of Representatives Commission XI overseeing finance, was known as an ardent campaigner for Jokowi in the 2014 presidential election.
Pramono, a former secretary-general and House deputy speaker, is famous for his lobbying role in reconciling the ruling Great Indonesia Coalition and the opposition Red-and-White Coalition during the fight over control of the House.
Arya Fernandez from the Jakarta-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said that in addition to loyalty, a politician's stance toward Jokowi's nomination in 2014 had also influenced Megawati's selection of party board members.
"There were party members who actively supported Jokowi's nomination. These individuals are thus considered unfaithful to Bu Mega, the party's leader," Arya said.
The key leadership
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