The State Palace insisted on Tuesday that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono did not know who Bunda Putri was until Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) chief patron Hilmi Aminuddin revealed her identity in his testimony in the court
he State Palace insisted on Tuesday that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono did not know who Bunda Putri was until Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) chief patron Hilmi Aminuddin revealed her identity in his testimony in the court.
'Does the name Non Saputri refer to Bunda Putri? The answer is no, the President never knew Bunda Putri until the name was mentioned by the media,' presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha told The Jakarta Post via text message.
Hilmi confirmed on Monday that Bunda Putri was an alias for Non Saputri, the wife of the Agriculture Ministry's horticulture director-general, Hasanuddin Ibrahim.
She is said to have close ties to high-ranking officials and is able to pull strings in the government, including Yudhoyono's plans to reshuffle his Cabinet.
Her name was first mentioned by Hilmi's son, Ridwan Hakim, who insinuated that Non Saputri was involved in the beef-import graft case that has implicated former PKS chairman Luthfi Hasan Ishaaq.
In his testimony, Luthfi claimed that Bunda Putri was 'very close' to Yudhoyono. In a taped conversation between him and Ridwan, which was played during Luthfi's trial, Luthfi said that Bunda Putri 'influenced decision makers'.
Yudhoyono was outraged by Luthfi's claim and held a press conference to accuse the PKS politician of spreading lies.
'One thousand percent Luthfi lied,' the President said. '[He said] she [Bunda] knew a lot about the Cabinet reshuffle. [I say] 2,000 percent it was a lie. On reshuffles, even my wife and family know nothing.'
The President added that he had ordered his aides to collect information about Bunda Putri. 'I still do not have complete data on Bunda Putri. Hopefully within one or two days, I will get it,' he said.
Separately, the President's special advisor for political communications, Daniel Sparringa, said the President would not announce the identity of Bunda Putri to the public. 'President Yudhoyono's statement [in a press conference] at Halim Perdanakusuma Airport a couple days ago should not be understood to mean we are going make public the identity of Bunda Putri,' Daniel said.
While the Palace denied knowing Bunda Putri, or Non Saputri, many said the woman was no stranger to the political elite. Pictures of Bunda Putri posing with the country's Cabinet members and senior politicians have emerged in the media.
She is pictured with Cabinet secretary Dipo Alam, Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro, former Jakarta governor Sutiyoso, Hilmi of the PKS, former youth and sports minister Andi Mallarangeng,
Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan, Economist Faisal Basri, former coordinating Minister for Political, Social and Security Affairs Agum Gumelar and West Kalimantan Governor Cornelis.
Faisal, who claimed to have known Bunda Putri since 2007, said that it was strange that the President claimed not to know her.
'From what I know Bunda Putri is the daughter of Ahmadi, a former Golkar Party regional representative council head in Jakarta during president Suharto's regime.'
He went on to say that Bunda Putri was highly respected by officials of the Malaysian state oil company, Petronas, 'we could say that she was a Petronas lobbyist, not only in Indonesia but also in the Middle East and Africa.'
Faisal said that Bunda Putri, who has one daughter and one grandchild, was not as mysterious as people thought. He said the last time he met with her was two years ago. 'What makes her mysterious is the President's comment that [Yudhoyono is] 2,000 percent sure that he does not know her as well as the PKS leaders who took Bunda Putri's words for granted,' he said, but did not elaborate further. (hrl)
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