Chairman of ruling party steps down

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - Chairman of ruling party, Anas Urbaningrum, announced that he stepped down from his position in Democrat Party on Saturday. The day before he was named by Indonesian Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) as a suspect of "Hambalang case".

"This is the first page of the book. This is the beginning of big steps," Urbaningrum said on press conference on Saturday.

Urbaningrum allegedly received a gift related to the process of the building of Hambalang sport center in Bogor, West Java. During the press conference, Urbaningrum said that his resignation was in line with the integrity pact he signed last week. But, he admitted that he would still resign with or without the integrity pact.

In his resignation speech, he explained how he ended up as a suspect. "It began in May 2012 during Democratic Party Congress in Bandung," he said. The congress then elected Urbaningrum as the new chairman.

"I was like an unexpectedly black horse," he said, adding that the elites of Democratic party did not expect him won. Yet, he refused to mention the detail.

He implied that the recent events seemed to corner him and cited an example when Advisory Board Chairman Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) urged KPK to be clear about Urbaningrum's status. Further, SBY also asked him to be focus more on the graft case.

"The demand implied that 'someone' wanted me to be a suspect," he said. Urbaningrum believes that justice will defeat any conspiracy. "I believe that KPK works independently and professionally," he said and claimed his was innocent the graft case.