Who is richer, Gus Dur or Megawati?<\/p>\n
By Kornelius Purba<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): According to the official data, Vice President
\nMegawati Soekarnoputri is 17 times wealthier than President
\nAbdurrahman Wahid, whose personal assets are valued at Rp 3.5
\nbillion.<\/p>\n
But with growing criticism of Megawati's husband Taufik
\nKiemas' business activities and corruption allegations against
\nthe President, people may be tempted to believe the two leaders
\nare worth more than the official data reveals.<\/p>\n
With a monthly take-home pay of about Rp 49.77 million, the
\nPresident's salary is nearly Rp 10 million more than the Vice
\nPresident's, but Megawati still has a much larger bank account
\nthan Abdurrahman.<\/p>\n
Megawati's main source of income is her family's eight gas
\nstations in Greater Jakarta, while Abdurrahman's assets include
\nRp 1.72 billion in grants he received from unnamed sources.<\/p>\n
On the form she submitted to the Public Servants' Wealth Audit
\nCommission on March 20, which was made public by the commission
\non Wednesday, Megawati combined her assets with those of her
\nhusband, a businessman and member of the House of
\nRepresentatives.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman only included his own assets on his form,
\napparently because First Lady Sinta Nuriyah is not a money earner
\nfor the family. Interestingly, when reporting his wealth, the
\nPresident included Rp 1.72 billion in grants he received between
\n1999 and 2000.<\/p>\n
\"We have not audited the wealth list. We just published what
\nthey reported to us,\" said commission chairman Jusuf Syakir when
\nmaking public the details provided by the country's two top
\nleaders, along with 45 other state officials.<\/p>\n
Jusuf said People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais
\nand House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung had yet to
\nsubmit their forms to the commission.<\/p>\n
The 1999 law on clean and good governance mandates the
\nestablishment of an independent commission to audit the wealth of
\nstate officials.<\/p>\n
This means that for the first time the people of Indonesia can
\nget a look at the assets of their leaders, something they never
\nhad the chance to do with the country's previous three presidents
\nand seven vice presidents.<\/p>\n
The President estimated the value of his private residence in
\nCiganjur, South Jakarta, at about Rp 658 million. He also owns
\nfive cars, the newest one a Peugeot sedan he purchased in 1999.
\nThe President did not include two KIA limousines among his
\npersonal assets. The cars were presented to him and the First
\nLady by Hyundai-KIA Motors chairman Chung Mong-koo during a visit
\nto Seoul early last year.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman's assets also include gold, precious metals and
\nantiques valued at Rp 1.7 billion. He also has promissory notes
\nand bank accounts totaling Rp 3.3 billion and US$458 in cash.<\/p>\n
In a recent conversation with The Jakarta Post, Mitsuo
\nNakamura, a Japanese observer of Indonesian affairs and a
\nlongtime acquaintance of Abdurrahman, said the President's
\nparents left a very valuable estate to their children.<\/p>\n
\"From the heritage, they are much wealthier than many people
\nimagine,\" said Nakamura of the Wahids.<\/p>\n
Megawati and Taufik own 14 properties, including their house
\nin Kebagusan, near the Ragunan Zoo in South Jakarta, and a plot
\nof land in Pandeglang, Banten province. Some of the properties,
\nvalued at a total of Rp 24.3 billion, are described as family
\nestates.<\/p>\n
Megawati also owns 12 cars and 10 motorcycles. The status of
\nher favorite blue VW Beetle, which she often drives, is unclear.<\/p>\n
The family's gas stations are located across the city,
\nincluding on Jl. Lapangan Roos and on Jl. Sriwijaya, both in
\nSouth Jakarta. This first gas station apparently has some
\nsentimental value for Megawati, and she often visited it before
\nbecoming vice president in October 1999.<\/p>\n
\"Ibu used to come here because this is among the first
\nstations she owned,\" said an employee at the station, who
\nidentified himself as Ahmad.<\/p>\n
Then Jakarta governor Ali Sadikin awarded Megawati the
\nlocations for the gas stations in the 1970s when he realized that
\nthen president Soeharto had blocked the businesses of former
\npresident Sukarno's children.<\/p>\n
Citing press reports, sociologist George J. Aditjondro, who is
\nknown for his research on corruption in Indonesia, last month
\nlinked Taufik with several tycoons, including Texmaco boss
\nMarimutu Sinivasan, and the Jakarta Outer Ring Road project.<\/p>\n
\"Taufik's business activities not only alarm us, but also
\nMegawati herself. But she recently assured us that she is able to
\nhandle her family's affairs,\" Megawati's economic adviser told
\nthe Post recently.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/who-is-richer-gus-dur-or-megawati-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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