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ormer president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) succeeded on Thursday in forcing the House of Representatives to temporarily delay a controversial plan to amend the 2002 Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Law.

Yudhoyono'€™s instruction to his Democratic Party was effective, with the House delaying a plenary session to endorse the plan after the party was able to convince the House'€™s Steering Committee (Bamus) on its position.

Yudhoyono, who ruled the country for two terms until 2014, surprised the House with his decision to follow in the footsteps of the Gerindra Party, which has opposed the plan to weaken the antigraft body since the very beginning. The party'€™s decision goes against the strong ambition of most political parties to tame the KPK.

The party controls 61 seats, while Gerindra has 73 seats in the 560-seat House. Yudhoyono is famous for his ability to maintain his public image, and the Constitution permits him to contest the 2019 presidential election. Gerindra'€™s founder, Prabowo Subianto, lost the 2014 presidential election to Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo. But he is still apparently keeping his ambition alive.

Golkar Party politician Bambang Soesatyo said the Democratic faction at the House had communicated its shift in stance on the KPK Law revision, rejecting a request to call for a plenary meeting to endorse the amendment, which was initiated by the House.

'€œThe Democratic Party had a change of heart, [...] so now there are two [parties that reject the amendment],'€ Bambang told reporters at the House complex

Bambang, who is also chairman of House Commission III overseeing legal affairs, argued that the Democrats'€™ stance would not get in the way of the amendment plans, which will continue to be handled by the House Legislation Body (Baleg).

The plenary session was delayed until next Thursday to accommodate the endorsement of other bills that are currently under discussion, he said.

The Democrats'€™ rejection of the antigraft law revision comes as a surprise, considering how many of the party'€™s senior members have been arrested by the KPK, including former energy and mineral resources minister Jero Wacik, who was sentenced by the Jakarta Corruption Court to four years in prison on Tuesday.

Jero was found guilty of accepting bribes and misusing ministry operational funds for his family members when serving as tourism minister and later energy minister in Yudhoyono'€™s Cabinet.

Besides Jero, who belongs to Yudhoyono'€™s inner circle, various other party members have been processed the antigraft body, including party cofounder Sutan Bhatoegana, former chairman Anas Urbaningrum, former party treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin and former lawmaker Angelina Sondakh.

Meanwhile, the government has refrained from stating its position on the amendment, saying it would weigh in on the matter after legislators came up with a final draft of the bill.

'€œWe will study [the draft] first, as of now we haven'€™t received it. After an official endorsement at a plenary session, [lawmakers] will submit the draft to us so we can discuss it with Baleg,'€ Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna H. Laoly told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo also reiterated the importance of endorsing a revision that would strengthen the KPK. '€œ[The revision] is still in the process [of deliberation at the House], so don'€™t ask me,'€ Jokowi told reporters in Lampung, as quoted by presidential spokesperson Ari Dwipayana.