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resident Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s youngest son, Edhie Baskoro “Ibas” Yudhoyono, and the chairman of Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party, Anas Urbaningrum, narrowly escaped an attack by an angry mob at Sultan Babullah Airport, Ternate, a situation which prompted the two politicians to immediately leave the provincial capital of North Maluku on Thursday.

Ibas, who came in his capacity as the secretary-general of the Democratic Party, was supposed to accompany Anas to the party’s North Maluku regional meeting to elect a new chairman for the provincial board.

After disembarking from a Garuda Indonesia aircraft, Ibas and Anas immediately became the target of an angry mob who appeared to be supporters of North Maluku Governor Thaib Armaiyn, who is running for reelection as chairman of the Democratic Party’s North Maluku provincial chapter, Antara news agency reported.

Footage from news broadcasts showed that the angry mob, wearing Democratic Party T-shirts, failed to breach the Security Details that protected Ibas and Anas and their entourage.

Local security officers as well as members of the Presidential Security Force (Paspampres) guarding Ibas, managed to hold back dozens of party members who were lashing out against alleged “unfair practices and intervention from the party’s central board” in the upcoming North Maluku provincial election.

Two members of Ibas’ team, Ibrahim and Syarif, suffered slight injuries.

The Democratic Party in Ternate is reportedly divided over the election of the party’s provincial chairman. Some of the district executive boards back Thaib while others support other candidates, including local politicians Beni Laos and Rahmi Husen.

After escaping from the angry mob, Ibas and Anas were whisked to another Garuda flight and left for Manado, North Sulawesi, to attend another party meeting. The Ternate meeting itself was postponed on Anas’ orders.

In a statement, Anas downplayed the incident, saying, “Everything is under control.” He said the North Maluku chapter of the Democratic Party “failed to manage the internal political dynamics which have been ongoing for quite a long time”.

“That failure has created rifts and misunderstandings. This is not good and was supposed to be dealt with in the provincial election,” he said.

Ibas also released a statement on the incident, saying that he “deeply regretted the incident”. “Such a violent act is not tolerable under the party’s code of ethics,” he said.

Ibas said the party’s central executive board would investigate the incident and impose sanctions against any party members found guilty of orchestrating the attack.

“I apologize to the people of Ternate who may have felt uncomfortable because of the incident,” he said.

This is not the first time Anas and Ibas have been accused of meddling in local party affairs.

In February, a former head of the party’s Southeast Minahasa regency office in North Sulawesi, Diana Maringka, publicly said that she had received Rp 100 million (US$10,800) in return for her support of Anas during the party’s chairmanship race in 2009.

Diana spoke about the alleged “bribery” after she accused Anas of having intervened and mobilized party members in the regency to oust her from her position.

The Ternate incident was another test for the leadership of the 31-year-old Ibas, who has been deemed too young to serve as the party’s secretary-general.

Many believe Ibas enjoys the position only because of his status as the son of Yudhoyono, the founder and chief patron of the party.

National Intelligence Agency (BIN) Lt. Gen. Marciano Norman denied that the embarrassing incident resulted from the failure of the Paspampres members. Security protocol requires Paspampres to provide continuous protection for all the President’s family members including Ibas.

“Our office is still investigating the incident,” Marciano said.

Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister, Djoko Suyanto regretted the incident and ordered the National Police to investigate the attack. “Committing violence, for whatever reason is indefensible. Under a democratic system people should be free to speak, debate and communicate. Why don’t they try that,” he said.