F

ormer minister, ambassador, economist, politician and church activist Franciscus Xaverius Seda, known as Frans Seda, was laid to rest Saturday in a military funeral at San Diego Hills Cemetery in Karawang, West Java.

"On behalf of the nation and the country, we will give Frans Seda a military funeral," Transportation Minister Freddy Numbery, representing the government, told Frans' family before the burial.

Around 60 soldiers from the Indonesian Army fired their guns into the air as a last salute to Frans, on Saturday afternoon.

Frans' wife, Nessa Seda, represented her family in submitting the remains of Frans to the government.

Before the burial, a viewing and service was held at Atmajaya Catholic University on Saturday morning, after which the casket was taken to Jakarta Cathedral for a public requiem mass led by Jakarta archbishop Mgr. Julius Darmaatmadja.

During the mass, thousands of mourners could not hold back their tears on remembering Frans' contributions to Indonesia and his community.

Seda, an economist and businessman, died on Wednesday aged 83, just hours after Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid died at Cipto Mangunkusumo hospital in Jakarta.

Born in Flores, East Nusa Tenggara, on Oct. 4, 1926, Frans Seda was finance minister during the beginning of the New Order administration, from 1966 to 1968.

He was later appointed by then president Soeharto as the minister of communications and tourism, from 1968 to 1973.

Under first president Sukarno Frans was plantations minister and the chairman of the Indonesian Catholic Party from 1961 to 1968.

Frans' elementary education was in Flores, after which he attended prestigious Dutch schools - MULO in Muntilan and HBS in Surabaya. He continued his studies at Katholieke Economische Hogeschool, Tilburg in the Netherlands, from where he graduated in 1956.

In education, he is recognized as the founder of the Atmajaya Catholic University School of Economics (1960-1964) and the chairman of the Atmajaya Foundation.

Frans, although a polite and calm man, was also known for his critical opinions of the government, which instead of making him an enemy, made him friends with political leaders - from Sukarno and Soeharto to Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid and Megawati Soekarnoputri, under whom he served as economic adviser.

Megawati said Frans' death was a big loss for her because he had actively supported her and her party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

"He was still full of spirit in his last days, and always gave me useful advice," she said Friday.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who also visited Frans' home to pay his respects on Friday, expressed his condolences, saying Frans was one of Indonesia's leading figures of democracy.

Yudhoyono said Frans had been a minister to three different presidents, and had contributed a lot to the 1998 reform movement.

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said she had learned much from Seda on how to manage the state economy, calling him a person of high principles, who acted with great responsibility.