TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Taufiq Kiemas, the husband of former Indonesian president Megawati Sukarnoputri, leader of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), died at a hospital in Singapore. Deputy Secretary General of PDI-P, Hasto Kristiyanto, confirmed the news.
Taufiq Kiemas, Head of the People's Consultative Assembly and patron of the PDI-P, dies at about 19.00 pm Singapore time at the Singapore General Hospital after he was hospitalized from exhaustion earlier this week. He was 70 years old.
Taufiq underwent treatment in Singapore after accompanying Vice President Boediono to Ende, East Nusa Tenggara on Saturday last week, to celebrate the birth of the Pancasila and to inaugurate the Bung Karno monument.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono plans to pay his last respects to Kiemas once his body is returned home to Jakarta. The President's spokesman, Julian Aldrin Pasha, said Yudhoyono gave "his deepest condolences" for Taufiq's family.
Taufiq's body is reportedly to be laid to rest at the Indonesian Embassy in Singapore, and will be taken home through the Halim Perdana Kusuma Airport, Jakarta, on Sunday, June 9. All of his family members and several PDIP officials are now in Singapore to pay their respects.
ANANDA BADUDU | NUR ALFIYAH | IRA GUSLINA SUFA
