JAKARTA (Yosefardi) – Saan Mustopa has jumped ship from Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s (SBY) Democratic Party to the Nasdem Party, a political party led by media mogul Surya Paloh.

According to the Head of the Nasdem’s Election Victory Body (Bappilu) Enggartiasto Lukito, Saan has been appointed as the Chairman of the Nasdem’s West Java chapter.

Saan earlier endorsed by Nasdem as a regent candidate in a local election in Karawang, West Java. Saan, however, lost in said local election.

Saan was listed as Democratic Party lawmaker at the House of Representatives (DPR) for the 2009-2014 period. But he failed to reclaim his seat at the DPR in the 2014 legislative election. He’s known as one of loyalists of the ousted Chairman of the Democratic Party and graft convict Anas Urbaningrum. (haryantosuharman@yosefardi.com)