Jakarta, Indonesianpost.com – Sarwono Kusumaatmadja, a senior minister during the Soeharto era, died on Friday after undergoing treatment in Penang, Malaysia. He was 79 years old.
Sarwono served in the Soeharto cabinet for a decade until the final year of the long-serving presidency. He was the state administrative reform minister in 1988-1993 and the environment minister in 1993-1998.
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The 1974 graduate of the Bandung Institute of Technology’s Civil Engineering built his political career in Golkar Party, for which he became the secretary-general for five years while also serving as a lawmaker before his cabinet appointment.
After the ‘reformasi’ movement in 1998 that led to Soeharto’s resignation, he joined the newly-born Prosperous and United Party.
Then President Abudurrahman Wahid appointed him as the maritime and fisheries minister from 1999-2001.
His last public office was the senator seat that he won in 2004 representing Jakarta.
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A representative for the family said his remains were flown to Jakarta earlier this evening for the funeral.