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Megawati and Taufiq Share Their Domestic Lives With the Nation
Markus Junianto Sihaloho | February 22, 2012

Taufiq Kiemas, right, the speaker of the People’s Consultative Assembly and the husband of former President Megawati Sukarnoputri, left. (JG Photo/ Afriadi Hikmal) Taufiq Kiemas, right, the speaker of the People’s Consultative Assembly and the husband of former President Megawati Sukarnoputri, left. (JG Photo/ Afriadi Hikmal)
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blightyboy
7:58am Feb 23, 2012

Bakrie, Tommy, a couple of ex army thugs, and these clowns. A quarter of a billion people and this is it? Indonesia is doomed.

padt
6:32am Feb 23, 2012

I'm more interested in his thoughts on the abandoned Jakarta monorail.

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Veteran politician Taufiq Kiemas on Wednesday held a discussion at the House of Representatives intending promote his new book, but ended up giving an unexpectedly intimate glimpse into his relationship with his wife.

Taufiq, the speaker of the People’s Consultative Assembly and the husband of former President Megawati Sukarnoputri, called his wife unique and eccentric because of her strong convictions.

“I don’t mind being eccentric, as long as it is to further the interests of the people and the country,” Megawati responded, adding that she and her husband held opposing views on certain important topics.

She was uncharacteristically candid about her relationship with Taufiq, saying that he enjoyed her companionship, sought her affection and dined with her often. She playfully mentioned that she sometimes called top Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) officials Pramono Anung and Tjahjo Kumolo to find out what was bothering her husband.

“If I give away too much, there’ll be a row before we even get home,” she said.

At the discussion, Taufiq said the idea for the book had been a collaborative effort with several other politicians.

The book’s title — “Four Pillars for One Indonesia: Taufiq Kiemas’s National Vision” — refers to the state’s foundational ideology, Pancasila; the basic laws of 1945; the state motto “Unity in Diversity”; and the United Republic of Indonesia.

The four pillars are often associated with PDI-P, which Taufiq established with his wife.

However, Taufiq said the idea of the four pillars as the functioning basis for the Indonesian state actually came from other Assembly members: Meilani Leimena Soeharly and Hajriyanto Thohari from the Democratic Party, Lukman Hakim Saefuddin from the United Development Party (PPP) and Farhan Hamid, a member of the People’s Legislative Council.

“It was their idea, but I was asked to spearhead it,” he said.

Taufiq added that the idea had been well received by most members of the Assembly, and that a spirit of “togetherness” had brought the numerous factions in the Assembly closer, in contrast to the House of Representatives.

Golkar Party deputy chairman Theo L. Sambuaga called for the adoption of the four pillars to boost development in Indonesia.

“There have to be concrete measures around them,” he said. “For example, how laws are created and implemented.”

Speaking at the book launch, the secretary of the PDI-P wing in the Assembly, Ahmad Basarah, said Taufiq was respected by most politicians for his ability to strengthen the dignity of the Assembly, despite the decreased political power of the body.

Before, the Assembly was the highest political body in the country, but now is at the same level as the House and the President.