Restoring
the Democratic Party for the nation’s sake
Donny Syofyan ;
A Lecturer
in the Cultural Sciences Faculty
at Andalas University,
Padang
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JAKARTA
POST, 12 Februari 2013
In a press conference last week, President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said he would take the reins of his Democratic
Party’s leadership to restore its tainted image.
The party’s
high council, led by Yudhoyono, agreed to relieve incumbent party chairman
Anas Urbaningrum from his duties as he tends to the legal case in which he
has been implicated.
Yudhoyono said
he would focus on rebuilding the Democratic Party’s beleaguered reputation
and advised anyone who was unhappy with the decision to leave the party he
helped found almost a decade ago.
A recent survey
conducted by Saiful Mujani Research & Consulting said that Democratic
Party’s electability had dropped to just 8 percent, far lower than the 20.8
percent of the vote the party won in the 2009 legislative elections.
Anas’ unstable
chairmanship and corruption scandals involving a number of the party’s
senior members have been said to contribute much to the party’s declining
fortunes.
If Yudhoyono
really intends to restore the Democratic Party, his efforts should begin
with serious steps to fight corruption in the party. Yudhoyono could work
with the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), requiring that party
officials to explain if their wealth does not match what has previously
been reported.
The move will
serve as game-changer for the party’s commitment to uprooting graft. At the
same time, Yudhoyono needs to involve the tax office to audit Democratic
Party executives who hold public posts and do not fulfill their tax
responsibilities.
Corruption has
boded ill for the people’s trust in political parties, particularly of the
parties born during the Reform era. For the Democratic Party, corruption
has given the party’s politicians double personalities.
Many say that
prominent figures such as Anas and Andi Mallarangeng, long known as
dedicated intellectuals, have become opportunistic when in power.
Those
politicians have found it hard to escape the corruption trap due to the
pressing needs of the party for money.
Yudhoyono’s
efforts as head of the high council to clear the party from corrupt
politicians have been instrumental in filtering out political adventurers
who have hidden personal agendas.
The party’s
politicians involved in graft scandals, especially executives such as
Muhammad Nazaruddin or Hartati Cakra Murdaya, cannot be totally separated
from their itching to make a fortune and expand their businesses.
Psychologically
speaking, rampant corruption in the Democratic Party has much to do with
soaring egoism among politicians following the party’s impressive
performance in the 2004 election and phenomenal win five years later.
The two factors
have given Democratic Party members, either as ministers in the Cabinet or
lawmakers in the House of Representatives, the upper hand and political
privileges.
However,
revamping the party’s tarnished image should not overlook rejuvenating the
leadership of the Democratic Party. Without such rejuvenation, future
leaders of the party will not be prepared, since no one in the party will
be capable of coming out from Yudhoyono’s shadow of influence.
Regeneration of
leadership is also central to eliminating political oligarchy in the party,
something that has quickly taken route in the post-Soeharto era.
A rejuvenated
chairmanship is the key to establishing collective leadership for the
Democratic Party. The future of the nation’s politics lies in joint
leadership instead of a cult of personality, which has created a
stultifying atmosphere and created caste politics within the party.
More
importantly, Yudhoyono needs to take an extraordinary approach in tackling
the graft plaguing his party’s politicians, both in the Cabinet and the
House.
For that
purpose, Yudhoyono could adopt a “corporate culture” in an attempt to
recruit the best talent for the party. The Democratic Party could organize
and launch recruitment drives based on strict “fit-and-proper” tests.
The clouds over
the Democratic Party are evidence of substantial problems. Certain people
have brought sacks of money to the party with the expectation of gaining seats
as party executives.
The effect of
failed recruitment in the party can be described as a ticking time-bomb,
just waiting to splatter the party with more troubles.
It is equally
important is for Yudhoyono to consolidate all the party’s resources, whether
human or financial. His action to take the reins of the Democratic Party’s
leadership certainly has pros and cons.
He must have
flair and be very good at convincing both sides that his decision is simply
for unity of the party, reviving the Democratic Party’s spirits and
preventing party politicians and supporters from jumping ship to different
political
vehicles.
Above all,
Yudhoyono cannot seek a solution to the scandals facing the party in
populism. The various problems facing the country are not always associated
with the Democratic Party, such as a growing reliance on fuel and oil
imports, food price hike, investment insurance, and many other things.
Yudhoyono and
the Democratic Party’s five Cabinet ministers should distance themselves
from the party’s internal matters and stay focused on their state jobs in
the final year of the administration instead.
The people’s
interests are much more important than the Democratic Party’s agenda.
Yudhoyono and
his party have found the way. The question now is whether they have the
will. ●
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