Dems scrambling over Nazarudin

The Democratic Party’s move to dismiss troubled Muhammad Nazaruddin as treasurer of the party in order to salvage its image has led the country’s largest political party into a deep crisis.

On Wednesday evening, the Democratic Party’s chief patron President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono arranged a meeting with the party’s central executive board at his residence in Cikeas, Bogor.

The Democratic Party’s House of Representatives faction chair, Mohammad Jafar Hafsah, said the meeting was “regular” and “nothing special”, although that did not rule out a discussion of the Nazaruddin case.

Nazaruddin said he was not happy with his dismissal and threatened to reveal scandals involving other Democratic Party politicians.

Speaking to The Jakarta Post shortly after his dismissal, Nazaruddin accused the party’s Ethics Council secretary Amir Syamsuddin, who is also a senior lawyer, of having abused his position in the Democratic Party to “approach Supreme Court justices handling a number of cases in connection with the alleged high-profile embezzlement of the Bank Indonesia liquidity support funds”.

He accused Andi Mallarangeng, a member of the Democratic Party and the youth and sports minister, of arranging the “illicit tender” for the construction of an athlete’s dormitory for the upcoming 2011 SEA Games in Palembang, South Sumatra. Nazaruddin is also implicated in that graft case.

On Wednesday, Nazaruddin alleged that Andi’s younger brother Zulkarnain “Choel” Mallarangeng and Jeffrey Eugene — the treasurer of the Democratic Party’s South Sulawesi chapter — had been Andi’s “partners” in securing the SEA Games project.

Choel denied the allegations, saying, “now Nazaruddin is in a panic, hitting at the moon and stars. He is seeking vengeance”.

Nazaruddin is currently the only Democratic Party member implicated in the SEA Games graft scandal. He allegedly sought an “illicit fee” totaling Rp 25 billion (US$2.9 million) from PT Duta Graha Indah, the construction company that won the contract to build the dormitory. The Corruption Eradication Commission said it planned to summon Nazaruddin over his alleged involvement in the case.

Nazaruddin is linked to a few other scandals ranging from alleged bribery to sexual abuse. On Wednesday, a group of NGOs filed a report with the House’s Honorary Council against Nazaruddin for allegedly sexually abusing a sales girl in Bandung, West Java.

It has been widely reported that the scandals have revived the rivalries from last year’s party chair election, which were evident in the contradictory statements made by Democratic Party officials.

Many Democratic Party members who, along with Nazaruddin, supported current party chair Anas Urbaningrum in last year’s chairman’s race are defending Nazaruddin. Many other senior party members who had supported Anas’ rivals, Andi and House speaker Marzuki Alie, called for a decisive sanction against Nazaruddin.

Indonesian Institute of Sciences political analyst Ikrar Nusa Bhakti said Yudhoyono must follow up on any information about wrongdoings by party members, including allegations coming from Nazaruddin. “There is only one option: Respond to all wrongdoing fairly, justly and with dignity, otherwise this party will be drowned into a puddle of mud that could affect the party’s bid in the 2014 elections.”

Writen By : http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/05/26/dems-scrambling-over-nazarudin.html