0 Rift could undermine NasDem: Analyst

The power struggle within the National Democrat (NasDem) Party, which has reportedly led to a plan to oust its current chairman, could damage the fledgling party’s reputation ahead of the 2014 election, an observer says. Party founder and chief patron Surya Paloh will replace Patrice Rio Capella as party chairman later this month in a move analysts say is an attempt by Surya to seize control of the party. “I think Surya’s decision to take over the party will be counterproductive and may instead undermine the party that he founded. 

He wants more recognition as the party has succeeded in gaining popularity. But the sudden succession could tarnish the party’s image,” University of Indonesia analyst, Iberamsjah, said on Wednesday. Senior party executives have decided that Surya, one of the country’s leading media moguls, will become the party’s new chairman without an election process. Party secretary-general Ahmad Rofiq confirmed that the planned leadership succession was linked to disputes involving Surya and Hary Tanoesoedibjo, another media tycoon who decided to join the party three months after its establishment in July 2011. 

The tycoons, and their loyal supporters, are said to be competing for influence. Iberamsjah speculated that Surya retained his ambition to run for president in 2014 and had made several attempts to strengthen his grip over the party by gradually removing Hary’s men from important party positions. “Surya certainly has the money but he must be aware that he is actually not that popular. The ongoing internal feud in NasDem will definitely make those who initially supported the party change their minds,” he said. While party officials have claimed NasDem remained solid, signs of cracks are getting more visible. 

The party’s youth wing, the National Democrats Youth Guards (GPND), is now in open conflict following the firing of a number of people viewed as insufficiently loyal to Surya. The GPND’s national executive meeting on Monday, which ended with a decision to fire its secretary-general Saiful Haq and Jakarta branch head Rizky Aprilia, descended into chaos. A press statement released by GPND’s chairman, Martin Manurung, said that Saiful was fired because he had failed to demonstrate true loyalty to Surya. 

Saiful and Rizky also published a statement on the organization’s official website gardapemudanasdem.org condemning the dismissals as “anti-democratic”. According to the statement, about 3,500 GPND members rallied at the organization’s headquarters in Jakarta to protest the decision which it said had been “engineered” by Martin Manurung. Also on Wednesday, Martin told a press conference that the decisions made during the national meeting had been aimed at consolidating the organization to smooth Surya’s path to leadership of the NasDem Party and to win the 2014 elections. 

Party executive and former Golkar Party lawmaker Ferry Mursyidan Baldan admitted that there were efforts to block Surya from expanding his power in the party. “This was only a rumor. But now it has evolved into a major movement to reject Surya.” Ferry, known as a Surya loyalist, said.

source : the jakarta post