| Drs. H. Muhammad Jusuf Kalla | |
|---|---|
| 10th Vice President of Indonesia | |
| In office 20 October 2004 – 20 October 2009 |
|
| President | Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono |
| Preceded by | Hamzah Haz |
| Succeeded by | Boediono |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 15 May 1942 Watampone, South Sulawesi, Dutch East Indies |
| Nationality | Indonesian |
| Political party | Golkar Party |
| Spouse(s) | Mufidah Miad Saad |
| Children | Muchlisa Kalla Muswirah Imelda Kalla Solichin Kalla Chaerani Kalla |
| Alma mater | Hasanuddin University INSEAD |
| Profession | Businessman |
| Religion | Islam |
| Website | [1] |
(born 15 May 1942) is an Indonesian politician who was the 10th Vice President of Indonesia from 2004 to 2009 and Chairman of the Golkar Party during the same period. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the 2009 presidential election.
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Jusuf Kalla was born on 15 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 10.
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.[1] 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.
In 1967, Kalla graduated from Faculty Economy of Universitas Hasanuddin in Makassar. The economic situation was bleak at the time, and his father, Hadji, contemplated shutting down the family business, NV Hadji Kalla. It was here that Kalla decided to enter the business world. Putting aside his political activism, Kalla became CEO of NV Hadji Kalla in 1968, while Hadji became the company's chairman. In the beginning, business was slow for Kalla, who only had one employee, and his mother had to assist him by trading silk and running a small transportation business with three buses.[1]
Business improved, however. NV Hadji Kalla expanded from export import business to the hotel industry, construction, car dealing, bridges, shipping, real estate, transportation, a shrimp farm, oil palm, and telecommunications.[1] In addition to being CEO of NV Hadji Kalla, Kalla was also CEO for the subsidiaries of NV Hadji Kalla. In 1977, Kalla graduated from INSEAD, an international business school in Fontainebleau, south of Paris.
Aside from the business career, Kalla has been active in various organizations. From 1979 to 1989, he was chairman of the Indonesian Economics Graduates Association (ISEI) in Ujung Pandang and continues to be an adviser for ISEI. Kalla was extensively involved with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN). From 1985 to 1998, he was chairman for KADIN in south Sulawesi and was coordinator for KADIN in eastern Indonesia.[1] In addition, Kalla is on the board of trustees for three universities in Makassar. Kalla has contributed socially by building the Al Markaz Mosque and becoming chairman of its Islamic centre.
Kalla returned to politics in 1987 when he was appointed to the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) as a regional representative for south Sulawesi. He would be re-appointed to the MPR in 1992, 1997, and 1999.[2]
When Kyai Haji Abdurrahman Wahid was elected as President by MPR in 1999, Kalla was included in the cabinet and was named Minister of Industry and Trade. He had only been a minister for six months when in April 2000, Wahid removed him along with Minister of State Owned Enterprises. Wahid accused both Kalla and Laksamana for corruption, although he never provided any evidence of corruption.[3]
In July 2001, at a special session of the MPR, Wahid was dismissed from office and Megawati Sukarnoputri took over from Vice President to 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 helped solve the inter-religious conflict in Poso on his native island of Sulawesi. Kalla facilitated the negotiation, which resulted in the signing of the Malino II Accord on 20 December 2001.[4] and ceased the conflict, which had gone on for three years. Two months later, Kalla once again helped solve another conflict in Sulawesi. On 12 February 2002, Kalla, 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.[5]
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.[6] 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.[7]
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.[8] 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 5 July 2004, the presidential election was held. Kalla and Yudhoyono came first with 33% of the votes. However, 50% of votes were required for the election of a President and Vice President, and Yudhoyono now had to run 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.[9] On 20 September 2004, Kalla and Yudhoyono won the run-offs with 60.87% of the votes.
Although he had overwhelmingly won the Presidency, Yudhoyono was still weak in the People's Representative Council (DPR). PD 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 also perceived to be to weak to run against Akbar, Yudhoyono gave the green light for Kalla to run for the Golkar Chairmanship.[10] On 19 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 of rivalry came 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 the Vice Presidential decree was questioned [11] 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 suggested that such conduct was an expression of distrust by Yudhoyono [12] The suggestion seemed to gain momentum when Kalla only showed up for one video conference and then spent the rest of the time taking care of Golkar matters.
Although things calmed down, especially with Golkar gaining another cabinet position in the reshuffle, the alleged rivalry surfaced again in October 2006 when Yudhoyono established the Presidential Work Unit for the Organization of Reform Program (UKP3R). Critics questioned whether the establishment of the unit was an attempt by Yudhoyono to exclude Kalla from the government. Yudhoyono was quick to clarify that in supervising UKP3R, he would be assisted by Kalla.[13]
Kalla ran for the presidency with Wiranto as his running mate in the 2009 Indonesian presidential election, finishing third with 12.4% of the vote.
Kalla is married to Mufidah, with whom he has five children, Muchlisa, Muswira, Imelda, Solichin and Chaerani.[14]
His career after vice presidency includes many social activities. On December 22, 2009, he was elected to became chairman of Indonesian Red Cross Society (Palang Merah Indonesia, PMI). Kalla said that under his leadership, the PMI would improve the national blood stock to prepare for any increased demand for blood by hospital patients and victims of natural disasters.[15]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Hamzah Haz |
Vice President of Indonesia 2004–2009 |
Succeeded by Boediono |
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