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.