Vice Presidency
Ever since Mohammad Hatta resigned as Vice-President in December 1956, the position had remained vacant for the rest of Sukarno's time as President. When Suharto was formally elected to the Presidency in 1968 by the People's Consultative Assembly, it continued to remain vacant. Finally in March 1973, Hamengkubuwono IX was elected as Vice President alongside Suharto who had also been re-elected to a 2nd term as President.
Hamengkubuwono IX's election was not a surprise as he was a popular figure in Indonesia. He was also a civilian and his election to the Vice Presidency was hoped to complement Suharto's military background. Despite being officially elected in 1973, it can be said that Hamengkubuwono IX had been the de facto Vice President beforehand as he regularly assumed the leadership of the country whenever Suharto was out of the country. As Vice President, Hamengkubuwono IX was put in charge of welfare and was also given the duty of supervising economic development.
It was expected that the Suharto and Hamengkubuwono IX duet would be retained for another term. However, Hamengkubuwono IX had become disillusioned with Suharto's increasing authoritarianism and the increasing corruption.
These two elements were also recognized by protesters who had demanded that Suharto not stand for another term as President. These protests reached its peak in February 1978, when students of Bandung Technological Institute (ITB) published a book giving reasons as to why Suharto should not be elected President. In response, Suharto sent troops to take over the campus and issued a ban on the book. Hamengkubuwono could not accept what Suharto had done. In March 1978, Hamengkubuwono rejected his nomination as Vice President by the MPR. Suharto asked Hamengkubuwono to change his mind, but Hamengkubuwono continued to reject the offer and cited health as his reason for not accepting the nomination.
Suharto took Hamengkubuwono IX's rejection personally and in his 1989 autobiography would claim credit for conceiving the 1 March General Offensive.
Read more about this topic: Hamengkubuwono IX
Famous quotes containing the words vice and/or presidency:
“There is probably not one person, however great his virtue, who cannot be led by the complexities of life’s circumstances to a familiarity with the vices he condemns the most vehemently—without his completely recognizing this vice which, disguised as certain events, touches him and wounds him: strange words, an inexplicable attitude, on a given night, of the person whom he otherwise has so many reasons to love.”
—Marcel Proust (1871–1922)
“I once told Nixon that the Presidency is like being a jackass caught in a hail storm. You’ve got to just stand there and take it.”
—Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973)