Habib Husein:

[foreign language]

Narrator:

Taufiq Kiemas has every reason to be laughing. He's one of the most powerful men in Indonesia today. But even here, he's still relatively unknown. Who is he? He's the husband of Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri. Sooner or later, she'll be president, and when that happens his power will be even greater. That prospect is causing some concern.

George A.:

Taufiq Kiemas is a power broker par excellence. He has been working hard to get his men and women in the party, in the whole political party apparatus, and eventually, he began to develop this political apparatus into a kind of business network. Makes one question who will be the future president of Indonesia? Is it Megawati Sukarnoputri or is it actually Taufiq Kiemas?

Taufiq Kiemas:

[foreign language]

Narrator:

Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, or PDI-P, emerged as the strongest after Suharto's fall and is now well on its way to government.

Speaker 3:

[foreign language]

Narrator:

Considering that Taufiq Kiemas has no official role in the PDI-P, his influence over party affairs is extraordinary.

Mokhtar Bukhari:

Perhaps his financial assistance to functionaries within the headquarters enable him to make the executive council do whatever he wishes to be done.

Arifin Panigoro:

Being husband of a chairwoman, I think it's a defacto. I can say that. Yeah, he is strong.

Dr. Ning:

[foreign language]

Narrator:

He's no Denis Thatcher, sipping gin at home while his wife, Margaret, went off to work. Perhaps a more accurate comparison would be with the husband of the former Pakistani Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto, whose business activities didn't stand up to scrutiny and who triggered her downfall. It's said that Megawati herself has referred to her husband as the "Bhutto factor," and senior party members are well aware of the potential problem.

Arifin Panigoro:

I am so confident he is smart enough to understand that once his wife become the president, he should behave to become a husband of a president. Otherwise, there is already a bad experience happen to Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan.

Taufiq Kiemas:

[foreign language]

Narrator:

The lines are becoming increasingly blurred. Many former politicians from Suharto's New Order regime have been quietly crossing over to the next party or government, the PDI-P, often with Taufiq's blessing.

Dr. Ning:

[foreign language]

Narrator:

Former President Suharto's New Order, with its rampant corruption and nepotism, left Indonesia in ruins. The prospect of a new New Order being built up around the PDI-P alarms party loyalists.

Dr. Ning:

[foreign language]

Speaker 2:

[foreign language]

Narrator:

The PIP's long-term supporters have had enough and are about to march to party headquarters to demand the newcomers' expulsion. Taufiq Kiemas heard about the plans and immediately called the organiser, Dr. Ning.

Dr. Ning:

[foreign language]

Crowd:

[foreign language]

Narrator:

Despite Taufiq's attempts to water down the protest, Dr. Ning and her colleagues are going ahead with their plan to march on their own party headquarters.

Crowd:

[foreign language]

Narrator:

Megawati's cavalcade escaped just in time.

Crowd:

[foreign language]

Narrator:

The officials under siege inside will have to wait for things to calm down.

Crowd:

[foreign language]

Speaker 3:

[foreign language]

Crowd:

[foreign language]

Dr. Ning:

[foreign language]

Crowd:

[foreign language]

Narrator:

Their main target is millionaire, Arifin Panigoro. He was a leading figure in the New Order. He's now the leader of the PDI-P's parliamentary faction and he's currently under investigation for corruption.

Arifin Panigoro:

Get rid all of this, Orde Baru clan, from the party.

Interviewer:

So that's you, they're talking about.

Arifin Panigoro:

It's me.

Crowd:

[foreign language]

Arifin Panigoro:

[foreign language] Last week, it's more for myself. "Arifin, Arifin, Arifin."

Interviewer:

Yeah? Does it make you feel proud that you're suddenly famous? Or-

Arifin Panigoro:

No, no, no.

Interviewer:

Angry? Or ...

Arifin Panigoro:

I'm famous already. I don't need their effort to make me more famous, you know?

Interviewer:

Thank you very much, yeah?

Speaker 4:

Remember, it is more important to be human than to be important.

Arifin Panigoro:

The statement that he's saying, it's very, very important.

Narrator:

Arifin Panigoro may be unpopular, but he's very important to the PDI-P. He's an oil baron and it's an open secret that his fortune is now filling the party's war chest.

Arifin Panigoro:

I have enough money. Yeah, yeah. I [inaudible] so I'm going to participate in an activity. I can contribute some of the money.

Narrator:

But perhaps more important is his circle of rich friends, a group he can squeeze for money.

Arifin Panigoro:

I have lots of friends. I have some friends that I can ... What shall I say?

Narrator:

Taufiq Kiemas is the PDI-P's other main fundraiser. He too has been able to channel money from oil into his wife's party. This petrol station is 1 of 12 he owns around Jakarta. It was once the PDI-P's only source of funds.

Taufiq Kiemas:

[foreign language]

Narrator:

[Mokhtar Bukhari] is one of the PDI-P's elder statesmen and used to be very close to Megawati.

Mokhtar Bukhari:

Around her, even now, there are number of groups competing for favour from her side. Number one is the group of her husband, Taufiq Kiemas, is number one. And second, the group of the so-called newcomers.

Narrator:

He finds the whole thing rather vulgar, the rapid moral decline of his party, but his calls for a cleanup led to his removal.

Mokhtar Bukhari:

I don't want to be part of this rotting process within the party.

Narrator:

So what do you want?

Mokhtar Bukhari:

Yeah. I want to have a clean party. So they kicked me out.

Narrator:

Ask him about Taufiq, and he's scathing.

Mokhtar Bukhari:

The stories I heard about him is really unbelievable. For instance, he let a tailor from Rome come into Indonesia just to take his measurement. He went to South Africa to buy luxury cars. And how many cars does she have?

Narrator:

22 according to documents presented to state auditors. Megawati and Taufiq declared personal assets worth more than 10 million Australian dollars.

George Aditjondro has investigated graft and corruption in the inner circles of three presidents, Suharto, Habibie, and Abdurrahman Wahid. Logically, his attention is now turning to Megawati and her inner circle. He says there are already indications that Taufiq's activities may involve violations of Indonesian law.

George A.:

If you involve your cronies from the same party in a business in order to build the war chest of that party, there are very big chances that you're violating two laws, law number two and law number three of '99. And the very fact that the '99 election was won with a lot of political donations, which were much beyond the allowed limit, and also with a lot of money splashed around the country to win the votes, means that the '99 election did not clean up the corrupt practises of the previous regime.

Narrator:

Although everyone has a story about Taufiq Kiemas, actual evidence of wrongdoing is difficult to find. But Mokhtar Bukhari says Taufiq is attempting to buy the support of fellow party members. The Italian tailor story indicates the way he operates.

Mokhtar Bukhari:

I heard it from a friend who was offered a suit from the same tailor, and he accepted it. And I also-

Narrator:

Did Taufiq pay the bill?

Mokhtar Bukhari:

Yeah, yeah. He wanted to buy a house [inaudible] and he do, "Oh, no. I have my own house. And that's not luxury house, but I am happy in that house."

Narrator:

And why offer to buy him a new house? Bukhari says it's to collect a group of people who owe him favours.

Mokhtar Bukhari:

Because the more people you have in the party, in the organisation, the more power you have. You can manipulate the organisation. Every party functional, at every level, from the district up to the senator level, they seem to be very enjoying very prosperous life.

Narrator:

Newly-

Mokhtar Bukhari:

Yeah.

Narrator:

Newly prosperous.

Mokhtar Bukhari:

Yeah, yeah. The nouveau riche.

Taufiq Kiemas:

[foreign language]

Narrator:

There is one PDI-P official who will never be bought, although with her home collapsing around her, she could do with the money. Dr. Ning was a delegate at a party congress last year, where debates centred on whether or not Megawati should continue as the party's executive leader. Now, she was the vice president. Dr. Ning didn't think it appropriate, but Taufiq Kiemas disagreed. His view was that Mega should retain both positions.

Dr. Ning:

[foreign language]

Speaker 5:

[foreign language]

Narrator:

Taufiq knows Dr. Ning well, and as they were voting, he called her.

Dr. Ning:

[foreign language]

Taufiq Kiemas:

[foreign language]

Crowd:

[foreign language]

Narrator:

There was a time when such a split or dynamic wouldn't have been so important, when Megawati was leading a minority party and Taufiq was just a businessman, but the events of mid-1996 changed all of that. After a standoff lasting several weeks, on the 27th of July, Suharto's soldiers and thugs attacked then PDI headquarters in Jakarta. Public sympathy for the brave housewife soared. After all, she'd stood up to the dictator.

Speaker 6:

Before that, I mean, we trying very hard to unite the people who are against Suharto, but they are still in the separate factions. But the 27th of July, she becomes a symbol of resistance against Suharto.

Narrator:

In the days of violence that followed, Dr. Ning, a medical doctor, treated hundreds of victims of state-sponsored thuggery. Scores of young activists were killed, and to this day, many are still missing.

Dr. Ning:

[foreign language]

Crowd:

[foreign language]

Dr. Ning:

[foreign language]

Narrator:

At a memorial celebration on the first anniversary, she was arrested and her daughter became Indonesia's youngest political prisoner. Only 33-days-old, she too, was incarcerated. It was Megawati herself who bailed them out.

Crowd:

[foreign language]

Narrator:

The symbolism of July 27th, 1996 became central to the party's identity. Five years on, it's now central to the party's disunity. No one has ever been prosecuted for the attack on PDI headquarters, and it now looks as though elements in the PDI-P itself have no desire to see the past revisited.

Speaker 6:

There is no state answer, political response, or moral response from the PDI-P. This is the wound of the past. Has to be clarified.

Narrator:

The generals that ordered that attack are now retired, and the field commander of the troops, former General Sutiyoso, is now Jakarta's governor and a close friend of the Kiemas family.

Taufiq Kiemas:

[foreign language]

Narrator:

With such a turnaround by Megawati, suspicions now rage that a deal has been done, a promise of impunity in return for support and favours. After all, if you want to do business in Jakarta, Governor Sutiyoso is an essential contact.

George A.:

I think those theories really make sense. Why is it that first, there was so much noise about Sutiyoso's role in the 27 July, '96 attack on the PDI headquarters, but suddenly it died off?

Narrator:

George Aditjondro says Taufiq is lobbying hard to win big infrastructure projects around the country. If he's to win contracts in Jakarta, then he'll need the support of a man who was once his mortal enemy.

George A.:

The Jakarta Outer Ring Road project and the proposed Matahari Island Gambling Centre are the two megaprojects, or two big projects, which you can call it "sweetheart deals" to get Sutiyoso off the hook. People with a lousy human rights track can remain in power, like in the Suharto period, by brokering deals with politicians.

Narrator:

With instability the order of the day throughout Indonesia, control of the party and its financing is not enough to win power. Taufiq also needs his own private armies of which he controls three. On rumours that the city's petrol stations would be attacked by students protesting fuel price rises, the party's official paramilitary wing, satgas, went on a 24-hour rotating guard, but not at all the city's petrol stations, only those run by Taufiq Kiemas. 200 metres down the road, workers at a rival station would have to defend themselves alone. It was clear the security apparatus was only following orders, the party's security wing protecting the family's business.

Speaker 7:

[foreign language]

Taufiq Kiemas:

[foreign language]

Audience:

[foreign language]

Narrator:

Notorious militiaman, Eurico Guterres, is head of the Jakarta branch of the party's second paramilitary force, the BMI. And the founder of this proud group is none other than Taufiq's younger brother, Nazarudin Kiemas. Nazarudin can't see any problem at all with Eurico's involvement.

Interviewer:

[foreign language]

Nazarudin K.:

[foreign language]

Interviewer:

[foreign language]

Nazarudin K.:

[foreign language]

Pius L.:

[foreign language]

Soldier:

[foreign language]

Narrator:

The third party militia, Brigass, is led by Pius Lustrilanang.

Pius L.:

[foreign language]

Narrator:

Pius now leads 1,000 thugs and his allegiance to Taufiq is clear.

Pius L.:

[foreign language]

Narrator:

Pius, like Taufiq Kiemas, is from Palembang in South Sumatra. George Aditjondro sees a pattern emerging with these hometown contacts. He calls them the "Palembang Mafia."

George A.:

The Palembang Mafia is simply a catchword to show how Taufiq Kiemas began to build his power base within the parliament, the national parliament, and also within the party, with a lot of people who come from Palembang, from South Sumatra. The Palembang Mafia has been successfully incorporating some leaders from the student movement and from the pro-democracy movement, who are now working very closely not just with Taufiq Kiemas, but with the Kiemas brothers, to protect their business interests and to enhance their business interests.

Nazarudin K.:

[foreign language]

Pius L.:

[foreign language]

Brigass:

[foreign language]

Narrator:

It's ironic that a party once known for its anti-military stance now operates three paramilitary forces. Pius embodies this contradiction. He was once a student leader and pacifist kidnapped by the military for his anti-militarism in the dying days of the Suharto regime.

Pius L.:

[foreign language]

Brigass:

[foreign language]

Narrator:

In a bizarre back flip, Pius has embraced the militarism of his captives, whose brutality he now refuses to condemn.

Pius L.:

[foreign language]

(singing)

Narrator:

Now, no one wishes to be publicly associated with Suharto. It's his charismatic predecessor, Sukarno, Indonesia's first president, whose memory is enjoying a massive comeback. Taufiq's ticket to power and influence comes from being married to Megawati Sukarnoputri. Sukarnoputri means "daughter of Sukarno."

Speaker 8:

[Foreign language]

Narrator:

This is Rachmawati Sukarnoputri, Sukarno's second daughter. She, too, is treated like a feudal queen wherever she goes. These devotees see in her the embodiment of their beloved former leader. To them, it doesn't really matter which daughter it is.

Crowd:

[foreign language]

Narrator:

And here, in East Java, in the town her father is buried, both sisters have arrived, alongside hundreds of thousands of supporters, all hoping to get close to the Sukarno magic.

Speaker 9:

[foreign language]

Narrator:

One of his nine wives, Dewi Sukarno, came all the way from Tokyo. Her most recent claim to fame was for slapping Imelda Marcos at a society party. [Pamadi] the Mystic showed up. He claims to be the conduit to Sukarno in the afterlife. And the other Sukarno children, Sukmawati, Guntur, and Guruh.

Crowd:

[foreign language]

Narrator:

When the president spoke, he was upstaged by a noisy part of the crowd, who perhaps saw him as a gatecrasher at a family gathering.

Crowd:

[foreign language]

Abdurrahman W.:

[foreign language]

Narrator:

Then their hero, not scheduled to speak, decided she would.

Megawati S.:

[foreign language]

Narrator:

Meanwhile, Taufiq has been using his wife's name to open doors in capital cities around the world. In New Delhi, the man who holds no official role in his party, met the prime minister and president. In Washington, he was given top-level access to government and military figures. And trips are planned to Tokyo, Beijing, and Kuala Lumpur.

In Jakarta, at his wife's official residence, he's working hard on the domestic front. This is raw politics, Indonesian style. First, gather all your opponents and then start cutting the deals. Taufiq the operator revels in this role. Tonight, he's playing host to some very important guests. First, there's Yapto, the undisputed godfather of the nation's many gangsters, a friend to the Suharto kids, and until recently, the head of the organisation which led the charge on Megawati's headquarters on that fateful 27th of July. But here, all of that is incidental.

Interviewer:

Mr. Yapto.

Yapto:

I'm taking care of Mr. Taufiq.

Interviewer:

His security?

Yapto:

Huh?

Interviewer:

His security?

Yapto:

As a good friend.

Taufiq Kiemas:

[inaudible]

Yapto:

He got a lot of securities around him.

Male:

[foreign language]

Narrator:

[Habib Husein] is a Muslim cleric who spent 12 years in prison for bombing the Buddhist temple, Borobudur. The global Islamic group he belongs to was responsible for the assassination of Egyptian president, Anwar Sadat. He also controls a militia force, the [Pasukan] Mujahidin. Considering past Islamic opposition to Taufiq's wife becoming president, Habib is most welcome here tonight.

Taufiq Kiemas:

[foreign language]

George A.:

It seems that Taufiq Kiemas becomes a more and more important political operator to reckon with, that he can now build links between Megawati and forces of the New Order, like a person like Yapto, as well as the forces of the transition order, the Habibie period, when more and more Muslim groups, militant Muslim groups, started to emerge.

Taufiq Kiemas:

[foreign language]

Interviewer:

[foreign language]

Taufiq Kiemas:

[foreign language]

Interviewer:

[foreign language]

Habib Husein:

[foreign language]

Narrator:

What brings them all together, apart from opportunism, is their mutual desire to see the back of President Gus Dur, whom they all supported at first.

Taufiq Kiemas:

[foreign language]

Narrator:

But the company Taufiq and Megawati keep doesn't inspire much hope for democracy and anti-militarism, which were once core party platforms.

Taufiq Kiemas:

[foreign language]

Narrator:

Rachmawati wonders why all those who once lobbied so strongly against her sister are now her greatest allies.

Rachmawati S.:

[foreign language]

Narrator:

In fact, it's quite possible that Taufiq Kiemas is a mere puppet in a much bigger show, that the people he's reaching out to for support could hold the seeds of his wife's destruction. In post-Suharto Indonesia, there is always a power behind the power behind the throne. And journalist and editor, Aristides Katoppo, believes there is already a move planned against Megawati, a repeat of the campaign against Gus Dur. In this plot, Mega's husband will be the key.

Aristides K.:

They will do the same thing, including character assassination, a lot of disinformation, a lot of, well, essentially undermining the authority of Megawati. And one means is, of course, to create suspicion about people close around her, and why not begin with her husband? I think they take their inspiration from what happened in Pakistan, and some people say that, in fact, the code name of the operation is "Benazir," you know?