Top leaders attend Anak Agung cremation

GIANYAR, Bali (JP): Top political leaders put aside party politics for a few hours here on Thursday to pay homage and attend the cremation ceremony of the late Ide Anak Agung Gde Agung.

Highlighting those in attendance at the colorful ceremony were presidential hopeful and chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) Megawati Soekarnoputri, along with Akbar Tandjung of the Golkar Party.

Also seen were Yogyakarta's Governor Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, businessman Arifin Panigoro and former Cabinet member Moerdiono.

Anak Agung, who served in a multitude of top posts, passed away here in April at the age of 78. He died after several weeks of treatment at a hospital in Perth, Australia.

Anak Agung, son of the king of Gianyar, was once prime minister of the Dutch-puppet East Indonesia State, a minister and an ambassador.

He spent his final years in the vast complex of his palace, the Puri Agung Gianyar, in the central part of Gianyar, writing books and promoting attention among the Hindu intellectual fora on the survival of Balinese culture.

A secretary and dozens of parekan (courtiers) kept him company while his four children lived and worked in Jakarta. (50/byg)