Suryadharma apologizes, but could lose grip on PPP

JAKARTA. Bowing to escalating internal pressure, United Development Party (PPP) chairman Suryadharma Ali expressed an apology over the uncoordinated political alliance with the Gerindra Party for the upcoming presidential election, in front of the Islamic-based party's senior members on Thursday.

The apology, made in a closed-door hearing during the party's national meeting in Bogor, West Java, also reiterated the party’s earlier decision to annul Suryadharma’s endorsement of the presidential bid of Gerindra chief patron Prabowo Subianto last week.

“He [Suryadharma] has apologized. He admitted that he made a mistake by violating the party statute [for endorsing Prabowo],” PPP secretary-general Romahurmuziy told reporters after the hearing.

Suryadharma had faced mounting pressure to step down from a group of party executives and local leaders following his appearance at a Gerindra rally in Jakarta last month. During the rally, he also made a speech endorsing the presidential bid of Prabowo.

Wearing a long-sleeve batik shirt without any party attribute, Suryadharma also made a public apology after the closed-door hearing.

“I’m sorry to all Indonesians and PPP voters if they feel uneasy with the recent [party] situation,” he said in a press conference.

Romahurmuziy said party members had forgiven Suryadharma and agreed to hold another meeting next month to decide which candidate the party would endorse in the presidential election.

The national meeting, he said, also instructed the party to hold the national congress immediately after the presidential election, a year earlier than the original schedule, suggesting that Suryadharma might officially lose his leadership sooner than expected.

On Wednesday, Suryadharma visited the venue where the national meeting took place, but only to meet several party executives and senior members to discuss their reconciliation.

He did not attend the main meeting, however, which was held to evaluate the party’s performance in the legislative election and discuss its coalition partner preference ahead of the presidential election.

This incited anger in the meeting’s participants, who were mostly leaders of PPP branches. They then demanded the party’s top executives to summon Suryadharma, causing a deadlock in the meeting.

Secretary of the PPP's South Sulawesi branch, Muhammad Aras, said Suryadharma must personally explain the reason behind his premature endorsement of Prabowo, since it had discouraged many party members ahead of the April 9 legislative election.

“Before his appearance at the Gerindra rally, we were still thinking that Pak Suryadharma was the party’s best member. After he made the appearance, we no longer have any reason to support him as the party’s potential presidential candidate,” Aras told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of the meeting. (Hasyim Widhiarto)