Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono - JP/Jerry Adiguna

After suffering an electoral rout in last year'€™s legislative poll, the Democratic Party has pledged to invest in human resources to help it revive public support and secure another election victory.

In a political speech delivered at the closing ceremony of the Democratic Party'€™s national congress on Wednesday evening, newly reelected party chairman and former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the country'€™s fourth-largest political party would spend the next five years modernizing itself and improving the capacity of its members.

Yudhoyono said the party would hold more leadership training for members.

'€œThe leadership training will last between three and eight weeks, with the target of producing 5,000 core party members at the national and regional levels over the next five years,'€ Yudhoyono said in his speech.

Yudhoyono also aired plans to overhaul the party'€™s management system.

'€œImproving the effectiveness of the party'€™s management at the national and regional levels will transform the Democratic Party into a modern and well-managed party,'€ he said, without elaborating.

Securing 7.4 percent of the vote in its first legislative election in 2004, the Democratic Party paved the way for Yudhoyono, then the party'€™s chief patron, to win the country'€™s first direct presidential election in the same year.

Five years later, the party won the legislative election with 20.1 percent of the vote, a success widely attributed to the popularity of Yudhoyono, who later secured a landslide victory for his reelection.

The party, however, saw its popularity drop prior to the 2014 legislative election after the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) named a number of party figures, including former chairman Anas Urbaningrum, former youth and sports minister Andi Mallarangeng and former lawmakers Angelina Sondakh and Muhammad Nazaruddin, suspects in various graft cases.

Under the stewardship of Yudhoyono '€” who took over the chairmanship from Anas in 2013 '€” the party secured 10.2 percent of the vote in last year'€™s legislative election and failed to nominate its own candidate for the subsequent presidential race.

Yudhoyono, whose reelection bid went uncontested in the congress, also reminded party members to maintain their confidence after the party'€™s recent election flop.

'€œAll members should be more optimistic and focus on the future. With unity and hard work, Insha Allah [God willing], our party will have a bright future,'€ he said.

Before Yudhoyono took the stage and made the speech, in the congress'€™ final plenary session, Democratic Party politician Sukawi Sutarip, who leads the party'€™s Central Java chapter, announced that congress participants had agreed to set the target for the Democratic Party to win the 2019 legislative election.

'€œWe are aiming to secure 25 percent of seats in the House of Representatives and the Regional Legislative Councils,'€ he said.

Sukawi gave details on how the party would achieve the target.

'€œTo achieve such a target, [legislative] candidates for the House and councils must work together so they can establish a close connection and win votes for the party while at the same time sharing the burden of their political campaign funds.'€

Yudhoyono is expected to announce the party'€™s new national executives in coming weeks.

Although senior party members remained silent about Yudhoyono'€™s pick for the position of party secretary-general, Yudhoyono'€™s youngest son and lawmaker, Edhie '€œIbas'€ Baskoro, has emerged as the strongest candidate to take the job for another term.

Ibas said he would be ready to return to his old job.

'€œAs party members, we must be ready should the party give us an opportunity. However, we must also be ready should the party assign us to another position, including that outside the organizational structure,'€ said Ibas, who served both under Anas and Yudhoyono.

Political analyst Agung Baskoro of Jakarta-based pollster Poltracking Indonesia said the Democratic Party should start a regeneration process to avoid a leadership crisis in the future.

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