W

hen you are unable to find anybody you can trust, someone who will always remain loyal to you in leading an institution or an organization, you will turn to those closest to you within your family  — or even resort to  yourself.
Such a decision is only human, but its practice is essentially an indication of dictatorship.

And that is exactly what happened at the extraordinary congress of the Democratic Party (PD) on Saturday.
Despite all the claims that the process leading up to the “unanimous nomination” of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as the “single candidate” for the party’s chairmanship was democratic, the fact that Yudhoyono also holds two other key party positions that are even more powerful than the post of party chairman is more than enough to say that he is in full control of the Democratic Party.

Prior to being elected party chairman on Saturday, Yudhoyono has been the chairman of the party’s board of patrons and the chairman of the party’s supreme assembly ever since the party was established on Sept. 9, 2001.

In addition to Yudhoyono’s leadership in the three crucial party posts, his total control of the party’s affairs is supplemented by his son, Edhie Baskoro Yudhoyono, who is the party’s secretary-general, the key person in the administrative affairs of the party.

As chairman of the board of patrons, Yudhoyono is indeed a powerful figure in the party as, according to the party’s statutes, every decision or policy made by the party’s board of executives can only be made with his approval as board chairman.

As chairman of the party’s supreme assembly, Yudhoyono has the final say on any party members put forth as candidates in gubernatorial-deputy gubernatorial, regental-deputy regental and mayoral-deputy mayoral elections nationwide.

And as party chairman, Yudhoyono will be the most influential Democratic Party figure in the drafting of the party’s list of candidates for next year’s legislative election and presidential election. According to a regulation of the General Elections Commission (KPU), which organizes the five-yearly legislative elections and subsequent presidential election, the list of legislative candidates and the nomination of presidential-vice presidential candidates are only valid when approved and signed by a party chairman.

Apart from his multiple roles in the Democratic Party, a subject of concern about Yudhoyono’s additional role as the party’s chairman is whether he can fully dedicate himself in his capacity as the country’s top executive. Not only is it ethically unacceptable for him to lead a political party and at the same time the  country,  a very rare phenomenon in a democratic country,  there is a big question mark regarding his readiness to focus on his main duties as the president.

Admittedly Yudhoyono did say on Saturday that he would delegate the daily affairs of each of his three posts in the party — board of patrons chairman, supreme assembly chairman and party chairman — to a caretaker that he would later appoint. However, as his responsibilities in the three party posts will be retained, the final decisions regarding programs and policies of the three areas within his leadership will still need his approval.

All this  at a time when the deadline to announce legislative candidates is fast approaching (within the next two weeks) and as the next stages of next year’s general election will obviously occupy most of his working time as president. Yudhoyono must remember that he is the president of the Republic of Indonesia, which he should care about more than a political party — which is, after all, only a political vehicle for him to secure the No. 1 post in the country.