REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Democratic Party (PD) General Chairman Soesilo Bambang Yudhoyono said his party's voter turnout dropped in the April 9 legislative elections due to corrupt cadres.
"Our vote gains dropped because of corruption cases involving our cadres and of a leadership crisis in 2013," Yudhoyono said when opening the PD leadership meeting here on Sunday.
He said that because of the corruption case, the DP was ceaselessly attacked by the media for two years which created public perception that the Democratic Party was the most corrupt party while in reality it was not.
"The voter turnout in the April 9 legislative elections for the PD dropped sharply, and came fourth of the 12 electoral contestants. So, in the coming five years, we have to make improvements and develop ourselves seriously," he said.
Besides that, he said, the absence of PD's presidential candidate with high electability also affected the voter turnout in the legislative elections.
"That is the causes why our vote gains dropped. We hope we can rise again in the 2019 general elections," he added.