Kwik admits mistake in corruption remark

Kwik admits mistake in corruption remark

JAKARTA: Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI
Perjuangan) executive board chairman Kwik Kian Gie said Thursday
that he was wrong to label the party as the most corrupt of the
country's political parties.

"I was told that I was wrong (in naming the party as the most
corrupt)," Kwik said after a meeting with President Megawati
Soekarnoputri, in her capacity as PDI Perjuangan chairwoman, at
the State Palace on Thursday.

He was accompanied at the meeting by Manpower and
Transmigration Minister Jacob Nuwa Wea and State Minister for
State-Owned Enterprises Laksamana Sukardi.

Kwik, the State Minister of National Development
Planning/Bappenas, said his statement was a connotation in nature
which was not based on any calculation, and therefore it was
wrong.

He, however, said that he would remain critical of the party
and the government.

"However, I have to be more careful," he added.

During the meeting, Megawati did not comment much, Kwik said.

"It seems that she knew the problem before we brought it to
her."

Kwik said last Monday that PDI Perjuangan was the most corrupt
political party in Indonesia and that it would break apart in the
next elections. --Antara