Summary Urbaningrum was accused of receiving payments in connection with construction of a sports complex.
JAKARTA (AP) - The head of Indonesia s ruling party resigned Saturday, a day after the country s anti-graft commission named him as a suspect in a corruption case.
Anas Urbaningrum, who was elected in 2010 as general chairman of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono s Democratic Party, announced his resignation in a news conference at the party s headquarters.
On Friday, the Corruption Eradication Commission declared Urbaningrum a suspect, accusing him of receiving payments in connection with the construction of a sports complex in West Java province.
The commission did not specify what kind of payments were allegedly received by Urbaningrum, but media reports say a contractor gave him a car worth about $75,000 while he was a lawmaker and head of the party s faction in Parliament before being elected as party chairman.
"I resign as general chairman of the Democratic Party," Urbaningrum said, noting that his decision was based on the party s standard of ethics.
The 43-year-old Urbaningrum, who has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, could face a minimum sentence of four years in jail if found guilty.
Party members were scheduled to meet Sunday to decide on a new chairman.
The case is the latest blow to the party s reputation and to Yudhoyono, who ran as the "Mr. Clean" of Indonesian politics in his 2009 re-election campaign.
Late last year, another party official, sports minister Andi Mallarangeng, was named a suspect in a corruption case involving the same $122 million sports complex in Hambalang village.
A former beauty queen and party lawmaker, Angelina Sondakh, was sentenced last month to 4 1/2 years in jail after being found guilty of accepting $3.6 million in kickbacks in connection with construction of a housing complex for athletes at the 2011 Southeast Asian Games.
Last year, party treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin was sentenced to four years in jail for corruption.
