Updated: 02/23/2013 16:24 | By Agence France-Presse

Indonesia ruling party chief quits after graft accusation

The chairman of Indonesia's ruling party, Anas Urbaningrum, announced his resignation on Saturday after the country's anti-graft body named him a suspect in a multi-million dollar corruption case.

Indonesia ruling party chief quits after graft accusation

Indonesia ruling party chief quits after graft accusation

"I quit as the chairman of the Democratic Party," he told reporters in a press conference.

Fourty-three-year-old Urbaningrum was named a suspect Friday for allegedly receiving "gifts or a promise of gifts" in a graft case linked to the construction of the Hambalang sports centre project near Jakarta, worth around 1.17 trillion rupiah ($120.5 million).

Urbaningrum's resignation was widely expected as he had been among all Democratic Party officials to recently sign an "integrity pact" to give up their party posts if named a graft suspect.

The allegation involving Urbaningrum is the latest scandal to hit the ruling party ahead of 2014 elections. It is also an embarrassment for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who won a landslide victory on his re-election in 2009 on a corruption-fighting platform.

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