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.