Former Assembly/House speaker Wahono buried
Former Assembly/House speaker Wahono buried
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Lt. Gen. (ret) Wahono, a former Golkar Party chairman and also
former House of Representatives/People's Consultative Assembly
speaker, who died on Monday evening, was buried on Tuesday at the
Kalibata heroes cemetery in South Jakarta.
Suffering from pulmonary problems, Wahono, 79, died only hours
after being rushed to the Pertamina General Hospital in South
Jakarta for medical treatment.
Many influential figures from the authoritarian New Order
regime visited Wahono's house on Jl. Iskandarsyah, South Jakarta,
to pay their respects. The most important of them was former
president Soeharto, who appeared healthy. He walked unaided,
detikcom news portal said.
It was a rare public appearance for Soeharto. The 83-year-old,
who ruled Indonesia until 1998, has managed to escape trial for
suspected corruption on health grounds and has lived quietly at
his private residence in the upmarket Central Jakarta area of
Menteng since he was forced to resign amid mounting unrest after
32 years in power.
Other prominent figures included former vice president
Sudharmono, former minister of manpower Cosmas Batubara, former
minister of defense Eddie Sudrajat and former minister of justice
Oetojo Oesman.
"As a former Golkar chairman, Pak Wahono dedicated himself to
the party, and we feel a great loss," Golkar leader Akbar
Tandjung said on behalf of the party.
Besides having a stellar political career, Wahono -- who once
served as East Java governor -- was also involved in a series of
military operations across the nation before retiring as a three-
star general holding the second most senior position in Army
Headquarters.
His military career began when he joined the Kanbu Kyoiku
military training school in Bogor, West Java, in 1943. At the
time, Indonesia was under Japanese occupation. After the country
declared independence in 1945, Wahono signed up as a soldier in
the Badan Keamanan Rakyat (People's Security Body), an
institution that became the embryo of the Indonesian Military
(TNI).
As one of Soeharto's aides, Wahono was appointed second
assistant to the chief of the Army's Strategic Reserve Command
(Kostrad) before finally serving as Kostrad commander from 1972
to 1973, replacing Soeharto.
Wahono also played a prominent role as a diplomatic, and
served as ambassador to Myanmar and Nepal.
Born in Tulungagung, East Java, on March, 25, 1925, Wahono is
survived by a wife, Mintarsih Syahbandar, four sons and two
daughters.
His body was buried in a military ceremony presided over by
Kostrad commander Lt. Gen. Hadi Waluyo.