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Jusuf Kalla

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Jusuf Kalla
File:Fotowapresdn.jpg
10th Vice President of Indonesia
Incumbent
Assumed office
October 20 2004
PresidentSusilo Bambang Yudhoyono
Preceded byHamzah Haz
Personal details
BornMay 15, 1942
Watampone, South Sulawesi
Political partyGolkar

Jusuf Kalla (born Watampone, South Sulawesi; May 15, 1942) is the current Vice President of Indonesia and Chairman of the Golkar Party.

Early Life

Jusuf Kalla was born on 15th May 1942 in Watampone, South Sulawesi. His parents were Hadji Kalla, a local businessman and Athirah, a woman who sold Buginese silk for a living [1]. He was the second child out of 17.

After completing school, Kalla attended the University of Hasanuddin in Makassar. There, he became active with the Indonesian Student Action Front (KAMI), a student organization which supported General Suharto in his bid to gain power from President Sukarno and was elected as Chairman of its South Sulawesi branch [2]. He also had the beginnings of a political career, becoming a member of the Regional People's Representative Council (DPRD) and Chairman of the Youth Division of Golkar when it still adopted a Joint Secretariat (Sekber) format.

Businessman

In 1967, Kalla graduated from the University's economics faculty [3]. At the time, the economic situation was still bleak and his father, Hadji contemplated shutting down the family's enterprise, NV Hadji Kalla. It was here that Kalla decided to enter the business world. Sacrificing his political activism, Kalla became CEO of NV Hadji Kalla in 1968 whilst Hadji became the Company's Chairman. In the beginning things were hard for Kalla, who only had one employee and his mother had to assist him by trading her silk and running a mini-transportation enterprise which consisted of three buses [4].

However things would improve. Under Kalla's leadership, NV Hadji Kalla expanded from export imports to the hotel industry, construction, car dealing, bridges, shipping, real estate, transportation, a shrimp farm, oil palm, and telecommunications [5]. In addition to being CEO of NV Hadji Kalla, Kalla was also the CEO for the subsidiaries established under NV Hadji Kalla.

Further Education

In 1977, Kalla graduated from INSEAD, an international business school based in Singapore and Paris.

Organizational Career

Aside from his business career, Kalla was also active in various organizations. From 1979 to 1989 he was Chairman of the Indonesian Economics Graduates Association (ISEI) branch in Ujung Pandang and continues to play an advisory role in ISEI until the present. Kalla was widely involved with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN). From 1985-1998, he was KADIN Chairman for South Sulawesi and at one point was the KADIN Coordinator for Eastern Indonesia [6]. In addition to that, Kalla is also on the board of trustees for three Universities in Makassar. Kalla was also made social contributions by building the Al Markaz Mosque and becoming the Chairman of the said Mosque's Islamic Center.

Political Career

Member of the People's Consultative Assembly

Kalla returned to politics in 1987 when he was elected to the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR). He would be re-elected to the MPR in 1992, 1997, and 1999.

Wahid and Megawati Presidencies

When Abdurrahman Wahid was elected President by the MPR in 1999, Kalla was included in the Cabinet and was named Minister of Industry and Trade. He had only been in his position for six months when in April 2000, Wahid removed him from his position along with Minister of State Owned Enterprises, Laksamana Sukardi. Wahid accused both Kalla and Laksamana for corruption although he never backed it up with evidence [7].

In July 2001, through a Special Session of the MPR, Wahid was dismissed from office and Megawati Sukarnoputri took over as President. Megawati included Kalla in her Cabinet and named him Coordinating Minister of People's Welfare. Although it was not part of his Ministerial brief, Kalla help solve the inter-religious conflict in Poso on his native island of Sulawesi. Kalla facilitated a negotiation process which resulted in the signing of the Malino Declaration on 20th December 2001 [8] and ceased three years worth of conflict. Two months later, Kalla once again help solve another conflict in Sulawesi. On 12th February 2002, he, together with Coordinating Minister of Politics and Society Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono managed to solve a similar conflict on Ambon and Molucca through a Second Malino Declaration [9].

Road to Vice Presidency

Now a popular figure for assisting with the peace process in Sulawesi, Kalla considered throwing himself into the mix for the 2004 Presidential Elections. In August 2003 he announced his candidacy and enlisted to be part of Golkar's 2004 Convention which will elect its Presidential candidate [10]. As the months went on however, Kalla was considered more as a Vice Presidential candidate. He was expected to partner a Javanese Presidential candidate and his non-Javanese background was thought to be a weapon to get votes that a Javanese would have trouble getting [11].

Just days before the Golkar National Convention, Kalla made the decision to withdraw from the race. Kalla then accepted the offer of the Democratic Party's (PD) Yudhoyono to become his running mate [12]. The pair also received the support of the Crescent Star Party (PBB), the Indonesian Justice and Unity Party (PKPI), and Star Reform Party (PBR).

On 5th July 2004, the Presidential Elections were held. Kalla and Yudhoyono came first with 33% of the votes. However, 50% of votes are required for a new President and Vice President to be elected and this meant Yudhoyono going into a run-off against Megawati.

For the run-off, Kalla and Yudhoyono faced a huge challenge when Megawati formed a National Coalition consisting of her own Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P), Golkar, United Development Party, Prosperous Peace Party (PDS), and the Indonesian National Party (PNI). Whilst Yudhoyono gathered and consolidated political support from other parties, Kalla turned to Golkar for support. Led by Fahmi Idris and ignoring the party line, pro-Kalla elements declared their support for Kalla and Yudhoyono [13]. On 20th September 2004, Kalla and Yudhoyono won the run-offs with 60.87% of the votes.

Vice Presidency

Although he had overwhelmingly won the Presidency, Yudhoyono was still weak in the People's Representative Council (DPR). PD combined with all of its coalition partners were still too weak to contend with the Legislative muscles of Golkar and PDI-P who now intended to play the role of opposition.

With a National Congress to be held in December 2004, Yudhoyono and Kalla had originally backed Head of DPR Agung Laksono to become Golkar Chairman. When Agung was perceived to be too weak to run against Akbar, Yudhoyono and Kalla threw their weight behind Surya Paloh. Finally, when Paloh was perceived to be to weak to run against Akbar, Yudhoyono gave the green light for Kalla to run for the Golkar Chairmanship [14]. On 19th December 2004, Kalla was elected as the new Chairman of Golkar.

Kalla's victory posed a dilemma for Yudhoyono. Although it now enabled Yudhoyono to pass legislation, Kalla's new position meant that in one sense, he was now more powerful than Yudhoyono.

The first sign that points to the existence of a rivalry was during the Indian Ocean Tsunami when Kalla, apparently on his own initiative assembled the Ministers and signed a Vice Presidential decree ordering work to begin on rehabilitating Aceh. The legality of his Vice Presidential decree was questioned [15] although Yudhoyono maintained that it was he who gave the orders for Kalla to proceed.

The second sign was in September 2005 when Yudhoyono went to New York to attend the annual United Nations Summit. Although Yudhoyono had left Kalla to take charge of proceedings at Jakarta, he seemed to be bent on maintaining a watch on matters at home. Yudhoyono would hold a video conference from New York to receive reports from Ministers. Critics suggest that this was an expression of distrust by Yudhoyono [16] The suggestion seemed to gain momentum when Kalla only showed up for one video conference and then spent the rest of the time taking acre of Golkar matters.

Although things calmed down, especially with Golkar gaining another Cabinet position in the reshuffle, the alleged rivalry resurfaced again in October 2006 when Yudhoyono established the Presidential Work Unit for the Organization of Reform Program (UKP3R). There was accusation that this was an attempt by Yudhoyono to exclude Kalla from Government. Yudhoyono was quick to clarify that in supervising UKP3R, he will be assisted by Kalla [17].

Personal Life

Kalla is married to Mufidah, with whom he had 5 children.

Quotes

  • On the practice of some Indonesian women having short-term, informal relationships with foreigners: "If the janda [divorcees] get modest homes even if the tourists later leave them, then it's OK. The children resulting from these relationships will have good genes. There will be more television actors and actresses from these pretty boys and girls."[18] The statement has been dismissed as a joke.[19]
  • He has described the disappearance of Adam Air flight 574 as an "international issue".[20]

References

  1. ^ http://www.tokohindonesia.com/ensiklopedi/j/jusuf-kalla/biografi/bio-02.shtml
  2. ^ http://www.tokohindonesia.com/ensiklopedi/j/jusuf-kalla/biografi/bio-02.shtml
  3. ^ http://www.tokohindonesia.com/ensiklopedi/j/jusuf-kalla/biografi/bio-02.shtml
  4. ^ http://www.tokohindonesia.com/ensiklopedi/j/jusuf-kalla/biografi/bio-02.shtml
  5. ^ http://www.tokohindonesia.com/ensiklopedi/j/jusuf-kalla/biografi/bio-02.shtml
  6. ^ http://www.tokohindonesia.com/ensiklopedi/j/jusuf-kalla/biografi/bio-02.shtml
  7. ^ Barton, Greg (2002). Abdurrahman Wahid: Muslim Democrat, Indonesian President. Singapore: UNSW Press. pp. p.302. ISBN 0-86840-405-5. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  8. ^ http://www.tempointeraktif.com/hg/nasional/2001/12/20/brk,20011220-26,id.html
  9. ^ http://www.mail-archive.com/eskol@mitra.net.id/msg00035.html
  10. ^ http://www.kompas.com/kompas-cetak/0308/07/nasional/480103.htm
  11. ^ http://www.suaramerdeka.com/harian/0407/02/nas02.htm
  12. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3638903.stm
  13. ^ http://www.tempointeraktif.com/majalah/jap/cov-3.html
  14. ^ http://www.suaramerdeka.com/harian/0412/20/nas02.htm
  15. ^ Redaksi Tempo (24th October-30th October 2005 Edition). SBY-JK Duet Atau Duel: Edisi Khusus Setahun Pemerintahan SBY-JK. Jakarta, Indonesia. pp. p. 41. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Check date values in: |date= (help)
  16. ^ Redaksi Tempo (24th October-30th October 2005 Edition). SBY-JK Duet Atau Duel: Edisi Khusus Setahun Pemerintahan SBY-JK. Jakarta, Indonesia. pp. p. 40. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Check date values in: |date= (help)
  17. ^ http://www.tokohindonesia.com/ensiklopedi/s/susilo-b-yudhoyono/berita/2006/ukp3r.shtml
  18. ^ The Jakarta Post. 2006. "VP moots using women in Arab tourism push" June 29, 2006. Retrieved August 8, 2006 from http://www.thejakartapost.com/yesterdaydetail.asp?fileid=20060629.@02.
  19. ^ The Jakarta Post. 2006. "VP says Mideast tourism remarks misunderstood" July 1, 2006. Retrieved August 8, 2006 from http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailweekly.asp?fileid=20060701.@03.
  20. ^ Missing airliner 'international issue': Indonesian VP - The Vancouver Sun - retrieved on January 7, 2007.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jusuf Kalla.


Preceded by Vice President of Indonesia
2004– 		Succeeded by
incumbent
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