Who is richer, Gus Dur or Megawati?

By Kornelius Purba

JAKARTA (JP): According to the official data, Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri is 17 times wealthier than President Abdurrahman Wahid, whose personal assets are valued at Rp 3.5 billion.

But with growing criticism of Megawati's husband Taufik Kiemas' business activities and corruption allegations against the President, people may be tempted to believe the two leaders are worth more than the official data reveals.

With a monthly take-home pay of about Rp 49.77 million, the President's salary is nearly Rp 10 million more than the Vice President's, but Megawati still has a much larger bank account than Abdurrahman.

Megawati's main source of income is her family's eight gas stations in Greater Jakarta, while Abdurrahman's assets include Rp 1.72 billion in grants he received from unnamed sources.

On the form she submitted to the Public Servants' Wealth Audit Commission on March 20, which was made public by the commission on Wednesday, Megawati combined her assets with those of her husband, a businessman and member of the House of Representatives.

Abdurrahman only included his own assets on his form, apparently because First Lady Sinta Nuriyah is not a money earner for the family. Interestingly, when reporting his wealth, the President included Rp 1.72 billion in grants he received between 1999 and 2000.

"We have not audited the wealth list. We just published what they reported to us," said commission chairman Jusuf Syakir when making public the details provided by the country's two top leaders, along with 45 other state officials.

Jusuf said People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais and House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung had yet to submit their forms to the commission.

The 1999 law on clean and good governance mandates the establishment of an independent commission to audit the wealth of state officials.

This means that for the first time the people of Indonesia can get a look at the assets of their leaders, something they never had the chance to do with the country's previous three presidents and seven vice presidents.

The President estimated the value of his private residence in Ciganjur, South Jakarta, at about Rp 658 million. He also owns five cars, the newest one a Peugeot sedan he purchased in 1999. The President did not include two KIA limousines among his personal assets. The cars were presented to him and the First Lady by Hyundai-KIA Motors chairman Chung Mong-koo during a visit to Seoul early last year.

Abdurrahman's assets also include gold, precious metals and antiques valued at Rp 1.7 billion. He also has promissory notes and bank accounts totaling Rp 3.3 billion and US$458 in cash.

In a recent conversation with The Jakarta Post, Mitsuo Nakamura, a Japanese observer of Indonesian affairs and a longtime acquaintance of Abdurrahman, said the President's parents left a very valuable estate to their children.

"From the heritage, they are much wealthier than many people imagine," said Nakamura of the Wahids.

Megawati and Taufik own 14 properties, including their house in Kebagusan, near the Ragunan Zoo in South Jakarta, and a plot of land in Pandeglang, Banten province. Some of the properties, valued at a total of Rp 24.3 billion, are described as family estates.

Megawati also owns 12 cars and 10 motorcycles. The status of her favorite blue VW Beetle, which she often drives, is unclear.

The family's gas stations are located across the city, including on Jl. Lapangan Roos and on Jl. Sriwijaya, both in South Jakarta. This first gas station apparently has some sentimental value for Megawati, and she often visited it before becoming vice president in October 1999.

"Ibu used to come here because this is among the first stations she owned," said an employee at the station, who identified himself as Ahmad.

Then Jakarta governor Ali Sadikin awarded Megawati the locations for the gas stations in the 1970s when he realized that then president Soeharto had blocked the businesses of former president Sukarno's children.

Citing press reports, sociologist George J. Aditjondro, who is known for his research on corruption in Indonesia, last month linked Taufik with several tycoons, including Texmaco boss Marimutu Sinivasan, and the Jakarta Outer Ring Road project.

"Taufik's business activities not only alarm us, but also Megawati herself. But she recently assured us that she is able to handle her family's affairs," Megawati's economic adviser told the Post recently.