Ahead of Regional Conference, Democrat Cadre Sends Open Letter to AHY
Ahead of the Aceh regional congress of the Democrat Party’s regional leadership board (DPD), Nurdiansyah Alasta, treasurer of the DPD, has sent an open letter to Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono (AHY), chairman of the party’s central executive board (DPP).
In the letter, Nurdiansyah claimed he had secured the backing of 18 branch leadership boards (DPC) across Aceh, having previously received the blessing of a senior Democrat Party figure who also serves as Minister of Creative Economy, Teuku Riefky Harsya.
“At the start of the congress process, I first sought the blessing of Mr Teuku Riefky Harsya, as our senior figure, to stand as candidate for chairman of the Democrat Party’s Aceh DPD. At the time, he conveyed his approval,” said Nurdiansyah, quoted from his letter on Wednesday, 15 July 2026.
He said the DPC chairmen supporting him had even been brought to Jakarta to meet Teuku Riefky, as a sign of their seriousness in following party mechanisms.
Nurdiansyah said the situation changed after the leadership of the Aceh Democrat DPD was run by acting chairman Riyan Firmansyah.
According to him, ahead of the congress he received information from DPC chairmen that Mr Teuku Riefky Harsya had contacted the branch chairmen one by one, urging them to shift their support to Dr Sayuti Abubakar, whom he described as not originating from Democrat Party cadres.
It is understood that the other candidate in the Aceh Democrat congress next August is Sayuti Abubakar, a former House of Representatives candidate from the National Awakening Party (PKB) who failed to reach Senayan in the 2019 general election.
Sayuti, who now serves as Mayor of Lhokseumawe, was previously secretary of the supreme council of the Nanggroe Aceh Party.
“To this day, I do not know what my fault was. I have also heard various accusations that were never clarified with me,” he said.
Nurdiansyah said he had repeatedly requested time to meet Teuku Riefky Harsya directly in order to explain things openly, but the opportunity had not materialised.
Nevertheless, Nurdiansyah Alasta, familiarly known as DNA, stressed that his letter was not meant to blame anyone or question the attitude of the DPP’s senior figure.
“I only hope that Sir (AHY) knows what I have experienced from my point of view, as a cadre who built a career from the ground up as chairman of the Democrat Party DPC of Southeast Aceh Regency, fought from the bottom, built support openly, and followed party mechanisms in good faith,” he wrote.