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mbattled Democratic Party chairman Anas Urbaningrum responded to the corruption allegation leveled against him on the popular micro-blogging site Twitter, saying that he would be ready to receive capital punishment if he was proven guilty of the crime.

Anas posted on his Twitter feed late on Friday that he would be ready to hang or be put in front of a firing squad at the National Monument (Monas) square if he was proven to have been corrupt.

“If I am [proven] corrupt in the athlete’s village and Hambalang graft cases, even if it’s for only Rp 1, I am willing to be shot dead or hung at Monas. But what about the people who make slanderous accusations?” Anas said on his feed, posted from his official Twitter account late on Friday.

Anas has been implicated in the high-profile graft case centering on the construction of a SEA Games facility in Palembang, South Sumatra, and Hambalang, West Java.

Anas’ Twitter feed caused a stir in the blogosphere with pundits and politics buffs making a mockery out of the statement. The statement was controversial not only because it was posted on the popular micro-blogging site but also because Anas had until recently spent most of his time on Twitter promoting traditional Indonesian foods.

Soon after posting, Anas went on ranting about the need for the government to prepare a cash handout for the poor once it started raising fuel prices.

Political activist Fadjroel Rachman responded on his Twitter feed by joking that he would set up a gallows for Anas soon.

“We take note and we are now preparing the gallows,” Fadjroel said on Twitter on Saturday.

Responding to Anas’ statement, former presidential spokesman Adhie Massardi said that since it would not be possible to hang Anas, he suggested that a vigilante attack could be launched against him.

The Democratic Party establishment quickly issued a statement aimed at damage control.

Democratic Party deputy chairman Max Sopacua said that Anas’ statement reflected his personal opinion and not the party’s.

“That [the comment] did not concern the party’s affairs, but purely his own personal affairs,” Max said.

He said that the Democratic Party would not give personal support to Anas. “Anyone who is involved should abide to legal process.”

He added that if Anas was named a suspect in the graft case, he would then be dismissed from the party.

Democratic Party patron board member Melani Leimena said that she supported Anas’ action. “The statement is an indication that he denied the allegations and it would still need a legal process to prove them,” she said.

Melani also called on Anas to stick to his words in the future.

The Democratic Party’s former treasurer, and also the key graft suspect, M. Nazaruddin, had testified before the Jakarta Corruption Court that Anas had used money from the athletes’ village and Hambalang projects to buy votes from local party leaders in the race for the Democratic Party chairmanship race in 2010.

The Hambalang construction project was started in 2010 with a budget of Rp 1.2 trillion (US$133.3 million). The project was managed by PT Adhi Karya, a company controlled by Anas, according to Nazaruddin’s allegation.

Meanwhile, the athletes’ village construction was worth Rp 191.7 billion.

Corruption Eradication Commission chairman Abraham Samad said that the commission would summon Anas for questioning regarding the Hambalang case in near future.

“We will summon anybody relevant to the cases as we need to complete the dossier on the Hambalang case. There will be no exceptions, regardless of whether the individual is a public official, businessman, or lawmaker,” he said.