Indonesia's First VP Said People's Lives Were Harder Than During the Colonial Era

Deteriorating economic conditions once prompted Indonesia’s first Vice President, Mohammad Hatta, to level sharp criticism at President Soekarno. Hatta even assessed that the economic suffering of the people at that time was more severe than during the Dutch colonial period or the Japanese occupation. This assessment was conveyed by Hatta in a letter to Soekarno on 17 June 1963. Although he had no longer served as vice president since 1956, Hatta continued to follow national economic developments and admitted he was anxious about the country’s trajectory. “As someone who has struggled for decades and sacrificed much to achieve an independent, united, sovereign, just and prosperous Indonesia, I feel obliged to write this letter. My heart is anxious seeing the decline in various fields,” Hatta wrote in his letter, cited from Hati Nurani Melawan Kezaliman: Surat-Surat Bung Hatta Kepada Presiden Sukarno 1957-1965 (1988). Hatta’s anxiety was not without reason. According to Ricklefs’ account in Sejarah Indonesia Modern (1999), at that time Indonesia faced severe economic pressures. Inflation continued to rise, staple food prices soared, and people’s purchasing power declined. Simultaneously, the government continued to run various prestigious projects that absorbed large budgets. As an economist involved in formulating state policy since the early days of independence, Hatta viewed the situation as a very serious deterioration. He even stated that the living conditions of the people at that time were unprecedented in Indonesian history. “The decline in the people’s livelihood, which has no parallel in Indonesian history, is more terrible than during the Dutch colonial and Japanese occupation periods,” Hatta stressed. According to Hatta, the root of the problem lay in misguided economic policies. Instead of realising the ideals of socialism that the government often campaigned for, the policies implemented actually made the people’s burden heavier. “The people’s income is increasingly squeezed, especially with the accelerated inflation policy, but the people’s burden is increasingly enlarged,” the proclamator revealed. Not only that, Hatta also highlighted the emergence of an elite group living in luxury amidst the economic hardship of the community. This condition, according to him, widened the gap between the rich and the poor. “The contrast between rich and poor is very striking, never as sharp as it is now,” he wrote. Hatta admitted he also felt the impact of the worsening economic conditions. From his pension, which amounted to only Rp5,762, about 70% had to be used to pay electricity bills. This experience further strengthened his belief that the direction of economic policy at that time had deviated from the government’s proclaimed goals. Therefore, he posed a sharp question to Soekarno and his aides. “The question now for many people, perhaps also for all those who suffer and think: Is this the road to socialism? Is socialism not just lip service, as is also the case with Pancasila?” The letter later became known as one of the harshest criticisms Hatta ever levelled at Soekarno. A few years later, the worsening economic crisis became one of the factors that weakened Soekarno’s political position until he eventually lost power.