Remembering Mohammad Hatta
A committee has been formed in Jakarta to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Mohammad Hatta, Indonesia's first vice-president, who was born on Aug. 12, 1902. Together with Sukarno, Mohammad Hatta, or Bung Hatta as he is more popularly known, co-proclaimed Indonesia's independence on Aug. 17, 1945. Jakarta's international airport, which is named after Sukarno and Hatta, vividly symbolizes the fusion between those two contrasting personalities during the height of the Indonesian revolution. Hatta died on March 14, 1980.
Mohammad Hatta was everything that Sukarno was not. Hatta's method of working was based on meticulous planning. He carefully prepared all that had to be done, including writing his speeches, systematically working out all the problems at hand, then taking concrete decisions. Before any important decisions were taken, he would meticulously consult all the parties involved. Even when full powers were bestowed on him during the critical moments of the infant republic in 1948, he remained a democrat. But once a decision was taken, he would stick to it and defend it against all criticism.
Mohammad Hatta was a devout Muslim, yet at the same time he was of the strong opinion that Indonesia should remain an open society in which religious tolerance should prevail. Our hope is that the preparatory committee to celebrate Mohammad Hatta's 100th birthday anniversary will be able, through its programs, to highlight the noble character of our late first vice-president. The entire program should be effective in inspiring the current leadership, especially the younger generation, into recognizing that Indonesia has known true leadership before. Our country has experienced complex problems before, albeit in a different historical context. Mohammad Hatta, however, has proven that Indonesia is not destined to be a country lacking in true leadership, a complaint that is often heard these days.
The preparatory committee should also be honest in summarizing Mohammad Hatta's political biography because he had the sad experience of not being appreciated and shunned by being elevated to the position of a constitutional vice-president toward the end of 1950. Thus, while Indonesia was in dire need of a strong head of government, Mohammad Hatta, as a powerless vice-president, would busy himself paying working visits to the provinces and delivering pertinent speeches.
In 1957, when the country was on the eve of a civil war, in which the United States was blatantly involved in giving aid to regional rebels, Mohammad Hatta was pressured into joining the government, but the political setting in Jakarta by that time had changed. Hatta's pragmatism and rationalism as a leader of untainted integrity was not to the liking of President Sukarno, and the rest, as they say, is history.
In short, it is our keen hope that after completion of all the plans designed by the preparatory committee to commemorate the 100th birthday of Mohammad Hatta, we will emerge a wiser nation, capable of confronting our problems with greater courage inspired by the impressive personality of the late Mohammad Hatta.