Nasdem Party to Name Founder as General Chairman

Jakarta - The newly-founded Nasional Demokrat Party (Nasdem) would name its founder, Surya Paloh, its new general chairman in a congress scheduled to be held here on Friday and Saturday. "The main agenda of the congress is strengthening the party's structure ahead of the legislative election in 2014," the chairman of the party's success team affairs, Ferry Musrsidan Baldan, said by cellphone here on Friday. He said the strengthening of the party's structure would include installing Surya Paloh - a media mogul - as its new general chairman. Other agenda in the congress are formulating priority work programs to win the next general elections and recommendation for changes in the party's statute. Ferry said the party would not as yet name its presidential or vice presidential candidates for the election to be held after the legislative election. "They would only be discussed after the legislative election in 2014," he explained. The party's present general chairman, Patrice Rio Capella, meanwhile said that one of the agenda of the congress would be strengthening the party's central organizational structure by appointing Surya Paloh as the party's new general chairman. Regarding the party's presidential and vice presidential candidates he said they would only be discussed after the legislative election is done. "We will see the results of the legislative elections first. We will see how many votes Nasdem would win," he said. The planned appointment of Surya Paloh as the new general chairman of Nasdem has caused the party's expert council, Harry Tanoe Soedibyo to resign. (*)