Lessons behind Sukarno and Hatta's bittersweet relationship<\/p>\n
This is the first of two articles by Halida Nuriah Hatta
\nJusuf, the youngest daughter of Indonesia's first vice president
\nMohammad Hatta and a graduate from the International University
\nof Japan, the Graduate School of International Relations, in
\nNiigata, Japan. She writes in her introduction that \"the
\npolitical circumstances that induced differences between Sukarno
\nand Hatta in the 1950s through 1960s can serve as a political
\nlesson for the present and future political elite.\"<\/p>\n
Halida earlier graduated in political science from the
\nUniversity of Indonesia.<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): \"Come over here and give Eyang (Grandpa) a
\nkiss!\" president Sukarno told me as my sisters and I stepped into
\nthe house from school one afternoon in 1963.<\/p>\n
The country's most powerful man was visiting my father,
\nMohammad Hatta, who had been just released from Jakarta's public
\nhospital. President Sukarno had previously come to the hospital
\nas well to see my father.<\/p>\n
Encounters between Bung Karno and Bung Hatta, Indonesia's
\nfirst generation leaders, rarely took place since the latter
\nresigned as vice president on Dec. 1, 1956. Hatta was chosen as
\nIndonesia's first vice president on Aug. 18, 1945, one day after
\nSukarno and he proclaimed and signed national independence.<\/p>\n
\"Eyang? Why should my daughter call you Eyang?\" my mother
\nprotested. \"You call me Oom (Uncle,) so I am her Eyang,\" assured
\nthe president. \"Well, but my daughter's father is Bung Hatta, who
\nis your comrade. Kak Hatta is your equal Oom\" insisted my mother.<\/p>\n
Conversations between my mother and president Sukarno were
\ntypically candid. Bung Karno was more a family friend to us than
\n\"Mr. President\". But things were different the day before. The
\nsecurity officials came to check every corner of the house,
\nincluding small spaces between the beds and the floor.<\/p>\n
The political climate then was filled with distrust. The
\npalace people saw my father as the president's opponent. And my
\nmother felt insulted. I recall her saying, \"They acted as if Bung
\nHatta or I would let somebody in to harm 'Mr. King'.\" In our
\nfamily Bung Karno was nicknamed 'Mr. King' because of his grand
\nposture.<\/p>\n
It probably was Bung Karno's first visit after my father
\nbecame a private citizen. The president was so eager to make a
\nhouse tour. He moved from his seat in the main living room and
\nwalked toward the back part of the house. In his uniform, he
\nopened the upper door of the pantry. A photographer took
\nsnapshots. \"So, you're checking out my pantry too,\" my mother
\nsaid jokingly while starring at him.<\/p>\n
A few months later, Bung Karno offered my father a thorough
\nmedical observation in Sweden and asked Dr. Mahar Mardjono, head
\nof the presidential medical team and an expert in neurology, to
\naccompany my father.<\/p>\n
While in Europe, my father sent Bung Karno letters informing
\nhim of the medical examinations he had undergone. Father also
\nwrote Bung Karno about the advanced medical technology in Sweden.<\/p>\n
In another letter, father shared his views to the President on
\nthe economic developments in some European countries.<\/p>\n
Bung Karno was my parents' matchmaker. Through Bung Karno, God
\nhas blessed my sisters and I with wonderful parents. It was also
\nBung Karno that matched up my mother's only sister, Tante
\n(Auntie) Raharty, to Oom Subijakto, Indonesia's first Navy chief
\nof staff.<\/p>\n
The story of the matchmaking was like a charming fairy tale.
\nDuring the national struggle, Bung Hatta had vowed he would not
\nmarry before Indonesia achieved independence.<\/p>\n
So as the \"light of freedom\" arose on the horizon, Bung Karno
\nseriously reminded Bung Hatta about getting married.<\/p>\n
The latter could not find any reason to say no. Accompanied by
\nhis physician, Dr. Soeharto, Bung Karno took the initiative of
\ntaking Bung Hatta to the house of Abdul Rachim in Bandung. They
\nboth were Bung Karno's longtime nationalist friends.<\/p>\n
It was an unexpected visit by two most influential nationalist
\nleaders. Bung Karno introduced Bung Hatta to my future grand
\nparents. Before they could even ask about the actual intention of
\nsuch a late visit, Bung Karno said, \"Well, I come on Bung Hatta's
\nbehalf to ask for your eldest daughter Rahmi's hand in marriage.\"<\/p>\n
Mrs. Rachim could not believe her ears. Aside from being a
\nwell-known national figure, Bung Hatta was as old as she was. She
\nsaid politely that it was not for her or her husband to decide.
\nMuch to her surprise, when Mrs. Rachim told her eldest daughter
\nabout the proposal, the answer was a straight \"yes\".<\/p>\n
Rahmi had never dated anyone before. Neither did she know Bung
\nHatta personally, but that night she just had the right
\nintuition.<\/p>\n
My mother told me that she had known my father by listening to
\nhis political speeches, as well as news about his leadership on
\nradio. In that way, she had silently admired my father.<\/p>\n
In one political gathering, my mother and her sister served
\ntea and cookies to Bung Karno and Bung Hatta. My mother, who had
\nsince her childhood called Bung Karno and his wife, Oom Karno and
\nBi (Auntie) Inggit, believed that Oom Karno had chosen a right
\nhusband for her.<\/p>\n
My mother once teased me. Her Javanese friends had said my
\ncoming into this world did not bring luck because my father left
\noffice soon after I was born. It was of course nonsense. My
\nfather's decision to step down was due to his growing
\ndissatisfaction in the period from 1950 to 1956.<\/p>\n
I once asked father whether the political rift between Bung
\nKarno and himself stood as the main reason behind his
\nresignation.<\/p>\n
My father did not elaborate on the disagreements between Bung
\nKarno and himself. Instead, he pointed out the politics of
\nadopting the 1950 Constitution as the core of the problem.<\/p>\n
In the postrevolutionary period, or after Indonesia gained its
\nfull sovereignty, various political forces in the country favored
\nthe parliamentary system.<\/p>\n
The instant adoption of the Provisional Constitution of 1950
\nwhich maintained that the president and the vice president
\nfunction merely as heads of state, or as symbols, caused the
\ncharismatic dwitunggal leadership (the Sukarno-Hatta partnership)
\nto lose its legal role of handling the government.<\/p>\n
During the physical revolution (1945-1949), the dwitunggal
\nleadership as an institution had proven to be effective. The
\nsynergy of Sukarno and Hatta's leadership had always overcome
\nvarious internal and external crises.<\/p>\n
Under the parliamentary system, based on the 1950
\nConstitution, both Bung Karno and my father felt confined by the
\nlimitations of power. From their position as heads of state,
\nSukarno and Hatta saw the failure of political parties in
\ncreating a stable government.<\/p>\n
Major political parties were in constant conflict to hold the
\ngovernment. The rise and fall of coalition Cabinets continued
\nthrough the early 1950s. Forgotten was the momentum to build the
\ncountry. As my father explained, \"Bung Karno became impatient, he
\nwanted to get things in order. So he crossed the borderline by
\ninitiating political moves.\"<\/p>\n
The impulsiveness could be understood, father said, but from
\nthe constitutional point of view, Bung Karno's actions could not
\nbe justified. In other words, Bung Karno had embarked on a short
\ncut route to govern the country.<\/p>",
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