Megawati yet to have wealth verified

Megawati yet to have wealth verified

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

In contrast to her strong criticism of the poor performance of
the bureaucracy, President Megawati Soekarnoputri -- who should
be setting a good example to all other state officials -- is
reported to have not yet set aside time for the verification of
her wealth declaration.

Abdullah Hehamahua, deputy chairman of the Public Servants'
Wealth Audit Commission (KPKPN), said that in October of last
year the President had made a promise to meet with the KPKPN just
after returning from a visit to the U.S., but to date the promise
had yet to be fulfilled.

Accompanied by KPKPN executives Chaerul Imam and Muchayat,
Hehamahua said that the KPKPN chairman, Yusuf Syakir, had sent a
letter to Megawati and her husband Taufik Kiemas, a legislator of
the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan),
last week, urging them to arrange a time for the verification of
their declarations, but no response had been received as yet.

"We had planned to send one team from the KPKPN's legislature
subcommission and one from the executive subcommission to verify
the declarations submitted by the President and her husband. But
as they never responded, we are going to send a second letter to
remind them," Hehamahua said at the KPKPN's new offices in
Central Jakarta.

Such verification was needed to determine whether Megawati and
Taufik had declared all of their assets, and whether any of their
assets had been obtained improperly, Hehamahua added.

Megawati and Taufik Kiemas had earlier stated their total net
worth as being Rp 59 billion (US$4.7 million), and claimed to
have accumulated their wealth through their family businesses,
including a number of gas stations throughout the capital city of
Jakarta.

The KPKPN, nevertheless, has insisted on summoning dozens of
officials and legislators, including Megawati and Taufik, to seek
clarification about what they listed on their wealth declarations
as gifts received from third parties.

Hehamahua also said that the KPKPN was still verifying the
wealth declaration of the speaker of the House of
Representatives, Akbar Tandjung. He refused, however, to reveal
any details.

Hehamahua further said that the KPKPN believed that five out
of the 126 legislators from the House and the People's
Consultative Assembly whose declarations had been checked were
believed to have obtained at least some of their wealth through
corruption, collusion, and nepotism.

Meanwhile, Chaerul Imam said that four out of 60 judicial
officials whose declarations had been verified were also believed
to be closely linked to improper practices.

However, both Hehamahua and Chaerul refused to disclose their
names, saying that the KPKPN would hold further discussions on
the matter at its plenary meeting on Wednesday.

This plenary meeting is also scheduled to formulate the
mechanism for publishing the names of the remaining 197
legislators who have yet to declare their assets. Reportedly,
Fahmi Idris of Golkar, Zulfan Lindan of the PDI-Perjuangan and
all of the chairmen of the House commissions are on the list of
non-compliant legislators.