Democratic Party readies to replace Anas if named suspect

The Democrat Party’s advisory board is ready with a list of potential successors if party chief Anas Urbaningrum is named a graft suspect by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), according to a member.

“It will be the same procedure as before. Once he named a suspect, we have prepared names to replace him,” board member Ajeng Ratna Suminar told The Jakarta Post on Monday, declining to mention specific names.

Ajeng said the advisory board had discussed Anas’ potential successors before raising the issue a meeting at the home of board chief Presdient Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono last week.

Separately, a party fellow, Didi Irawadi Syamsuddin, said he was unaware of a list of potential successors to Anas.

“We haven’t discussed anything like that, simply because Anas’s legal status is still free,” he said.

According to three high-profile witnesses – Muhammad Nazaruddin, Mindo Rosa Manulang and Yulianis – Anas allegedly accepted a bribe in connection with a constructional scandal before last year’s Southeast Asian Games in Palembang last year.