President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Saturday retained full control of his Democratic Party by accepting a proposal that he be elected party chairman by acclaim, avoid in a vote that could have seen him losing the party.

Yudhoyono, who had previously said he would not accept the proposal, now chairs the party’s central executive body and supreme assembly as well as the board of patrons.

“I have repeatedly said this party’s chairmanship should not go to me or my family. However, I heard that many party members wanted me to be chairman. On the other hand, leaving the process of naming the chairman through an election might end up in unnecessary friction that could exacerbate the problems our party is facing,” Yudhoyono said in his speech following his election at the Grand Inna Bali Beach Hotel in Sanur, Bali, where the party held its extraordinary congress on Saturday.

The congress, which was led by a seven-member presidium, witnessed leaders of four provincial chapters, namely Aceh, East Java, Papua and East Kalimantan, making statements, on behalf of representatives of all party regional chapters attending the congress, they wanted Yudhoyono to be the next party chairman.

“Let me deliver this aspiration to Pak Yudhoyono and we’ll see how he responds. We’ll be back in this room after about 10 minutes,” one of the presidium members, party patron and Transportation Minister EE Mangindaan, said.

He and the six other presidium members moved to the seventh floor of the hotel, where Yudhoyono had been monitoring congress proceedings. It was almost half an hour later when they came back to the arena to deliver the “good news”.

“Pak Yudhoyono has expressed his willingness to accept the proposal and be named party chairman. He said that it was not easy for him to make that decision because he is aware of his duties as head of state,” Mangindaan said.

Yudhoyono made two conditions that the congress would have to fulfill should he take on the leadership.

First, his chairmanship will last for two years at the most. If possible, there should be a regular congress to name a new chairman immediately after the 2014 elections.

Second, an executive chairman’s position will be created, with the holder in charge of the party’s day-to-day management.

“I want almost all the jobs previously done by the chairman be done by the executive chairman,” the President said.

Several congress participants acknowledged that almost the whole process of the congress had been briefed to them in advance. “The changes to the statutes were distributed when we arrived here on Friday. We were also asked not to interrupt the congress,” an executive of a regional chapter told The Jakarta Post.

Yudhoyono has been trying to regain full control of his party since the election of Anas Urbaningrum as party chairman in 2010.

When Anas was named a suspect by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) last month, he stepped down and Yudhoyono struggled to find a popular enough candidate to replace him.

The President was reportedly reluctant to hold a national congress as the party members are still dominated by Anas’ supporters.

Prior to the congress, the President warned the party rank and file, including chairman hopeful Marzuki Alie, against any political manoeuvres to control any vote during the congress.

His decision to assume the chairmanship saved him from a democratic process that could have been used by Anas and Marzuki to undermine him.

Political analyst Hanta Yuda from the Pol-Tracking Institute said that the executive chairman, who will allow Yudhoyono to focus on his presidential duties, would be the “actual chairman”.

“This is not much different from the past when Yudhoyono was the strongest man in the party and the chairman the second. But now, the de facto chairman is appointed by Yudhoyono,” he said.

Yudhoyono will announce the name of the new executive chairman on Sunday morning before returning to Jakarta.

“Or immediately after I arrive in Jakarta,” he said.

As many as 14 candidates for the post are on Yudhoyono’s shortlist. The most likely are Toto, a party patron; Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises Minister Syariefuddin Hasan and head of the party faction in the House Nurhayati Ali Assegaf.

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