Jakarta – The husband and executive secretary to Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri are emerging as key advisers, providing guidance and support to the policies of Indonesia's most powerful woman.
The Vice-President's secretary, Mr Bambang Kesowo, and Ms Megawati's husband, Mr Taufik Kiemas, are strong influence on the Indonesian politician, who is also the chairman of the Indonesian Democratic Party-Perjuangan (PDI-P).
The most "influential" person in the Office of the Vice-President is Mr Bambang, who heads the newly revamped bureaucracy. His influence stems from the fact the enlarged vice-presidential staff are all subordinate to him and all reports from the various deputies in the vice-presidential secretary's office have to go through him before they reach Ms Megawati.
Mr Bambang, 55, is an old hand in the bureaucracy and was known as a trusted legal expert in the presidential palace during the latter part of the Suharto era. He worked as Cabinet deputy secretary for five years, until September 1998 and was responsible for drafting Bills and presidential decrees.
The Vice-President also seemed to fully entrust Mr Bambang, who was appointed in January, with most of the selection of the deputies in her new office, who were sworn in on July 3.
The role of Ms Megawati's husband, Mr Taufik, who stood by her through tough times during the Suharto era and now accompanies her almost everywhere, has not gone unnoticed. Mr Taufik does not project any personal sense of inferiority despite the official position held by his wife.
Openly calling her by the affectionate pet name of "Ma", he is able to place himself well between the roles of Vice-President's husband in public, and father of the family.
In conversations with journalists, Mr Taufik said his duty was to accompany Ms Megawati as a husband. "Ibu makes her own decisions as Vice-President. However, when it comes to family matters, I am the chief," he quipped recently.
Mr Taufik, a self-professed businessman, married Ms Megawati in March 1973. They have two sons and one daughter.