Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Indonesian regulations state that the President and Vice President will receive a memento from the state. Be it a house or land. President Joko Widodo will reportedly be given a house in Colomadu, Karanganyar, covering an area of 1,500 m2 when he takes office in 2024.
This gift was also given to President Abdurrahman Wahid, Megawati and SBY. Unfortunately, the memories of retirement were not felt by the first President of Indonesia, namely President Soekarno.
According to Soekarno’s third daughter, Rachmawati, the pension money that the family was supposed to receive from the state never came.
“Let alone receiving pension money, we don’t accept or feel the protection and facilities of being a former president at all,” said Rachmawati, quoted from the book Big Family Dude Karno (1998).
This confession is in line with Soekarno’s life, which turned upside down after he was no longer in office. All the honor gained just disappeared.
How could that be?
Soekarno’s period of decline occurred after the events of the 30 September 1965 Movement (G30S). Soekarno’s prestige at that time began to decline. There was anger among residents because he seemed to be protecting the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), which was the object of their resentment. The peak occurred when General Soeharto appeared on the scene like a hero with an Order dated 11 March 1966 (Supersemar).
Through this letter, Suharto did more than just secure state order. However, he also took part in shaking Soekarno’s seat of office. Until finally Suharto’s actions led to the official transfer of power at the MPRS session on March 12 1967. At that session, Soekarno’s accountability speech was rejected.
The MPRS even inaugurated Soeharto as the 2nd President of Indonesia. Since then, Soekarno lived his days as an ordinary person. However, the title he holds as a commoner is somewhat different.
According to Peter Kasenda in Sukarno’s Last Days (2013), after leaving office, Soekarno received an appeal from President Soeharto to leave the Merdeka Palace and Bogor Palace before 17 August 1967. The palace, which had previously been a place of honor, now had to be abandoned by Soekarno.
Instead, Sukarno was allowed to live in the pavilion around the Bogor Palace. However, over time, he felt uncomfortable and asked to move, until he finally settled at Wisma Yasoo, Jakarta in 1967. That was with Suharto’s permission and supervision. It could be said that Sukarno at that time was a political prisoner of the New Order regime.
While he was a commoner, Soekarno lived alone at home. None of his family accompanied him or visited him.
Even if you can visit, it is done with strict supervision and permission, and is done for a limited time. There were only soldiers tasked with monitoring and interrogating Sukarno for his involvement in the G30S incident.
According to Asvi Warman Adam in the book Bung Karno Killed Three Times? (2010), the interrogation made Soekarno very depressed. How could it not be, the soldiers repeatedly asked the same thing every day, especially during the interrogation, Soekarno also had to endure pain.
It is known that before stepping down, Megawati’s father had quite serious kidney disease. With such health conditions, Soekarno should have received the best treatment in retirement. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Treatment is given as is from a doctor without the full assistance of a hospital.
According to Julius Pour in 30 September Movement (2011), what Soekarno experienced in his old age greatly changed his life. He became senile and often talked to himself without any opposition.
As the days went by, his health got worse. Until finally, all of this caused Sukarno to die on June 21 1970. After Bung Karno died, the family’s life had to stagnate. Soekarno was not as rich as many people imagine.
He left no inheritance and as revealed above he received no pension from the state. As a result, their children have to live independently in order to survive.
[Gambas:Video CNBC]
(mfa)