The meeting will be attended by party patrons, executives and regional officials, Suharso said, but there were no immediate plans to expel Suryadharma from the party.
Source/Credit: The Jakarta Globe
By SP/Robertus Wardhi & Ezra Sihite | April 10, 2014
Jakarta. United Development Party (PPP) officials are planning to sanction party chairman Suryadharma Ali because of the Religious Affairs Minister’s closeness to Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) Party founder and presidential hopeful Prabowo Subianto.
Suryadharma was first noted to be apparently quite close to Prabowo after he attended Gerindra’s campaign rally at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta on March 30, during which the minister said in his speech before thousands of Gerindra supporters that Prabowo was a capable leader. Other senior PPP politicians, including Public Housing Minister Djan Faridz, was also seen in the event.
On Wednesday, after casting a ballot for the legislative elections in Jakarta, Suryadharma said Prabowo was the party leader with whom he had had the “most intense communication.”
Some PPP officials said Suryadharma’s Gerindra maneuvering had made some party members deeply uneasy.
“[PPP] legislative candidates were competing head to head with Gerindra candidates in a number of regions,” PPP deputy chairman Suharso Monoarfa said on Thursday. “[Suryadharma's] action spoiled their spirit. Many of our members have wondered what he means by this.”
Suharso said a national leaders’ meeting of the party in Bandung two months ago empowered party leaders to build communication with presidential hopefuls from other parties — but that Prabowo was not among them.
“Our chairman has done an extremely embarrassing thing,” Suharso said. “His bad conduct has affected the party members.”
He said 27 heads of PPP regional branches opposed Suryadharma’s attempts to bring the PPP closer to Gerindra, and that a meeting would be held soon to discuss the appropriate sanction.
The meeting will be attended by party patrons, executives and regional officials, Suharso said, but there were no immediate plans to expel Suryadharma from the party.
“There’s no impeachment yet — we’re still evaluating things,” he said.
Suryadharma was dismissive of the controversy and insisted that he had not acting inappropriately.
“Like a company that has gone public, PPP has many shareholders — everyone has a right to speak,” Suryadharma said. “So let them speak.”
Suryadharma emphasized that his relationship with Prabowo was not instructive of an intention to form a Gerindra-PPP axis ahead of the July 9 vote for the State Palace.
Quick count results show the PPP finished ninth in Wednesday’s legislative elections with between 6 and 7 percent vote.
Read original post here: Indonesia: Suryadharma Faces PPP Sanction for Closeness to Prabowo
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