Portal:Indonesia/BOTW/7, 2007

Adam Malik (born 22 July 1917, Pematang Siantar, North Sumatra, Dutch East Indies - died 5 September 1984, Bandung, West Java, Indonesia) was Indonesia's third vice president. Adam Malik was born on 22 July 1917 in Pematang Siantar, North Sumatra to Abdul Malik and Salamah Lubis. Aged just 17, he became the Chairman of the Pematang Siantar branch of Partindo (Indonesia Party). In this position, Malik campaigned for the Dutch Colonial Government to grant independence to Indonesia. As a result of this, Malik was put in prison for disobeying the Colonial Government's ban on political assemblies.

On the 16 August 1945 Malik and other pro-Independence youths kidnapped Nationalist movement leaders Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta. They took the two leaders to the town of Rengasdengklok and forced them to declare Indonesia's Independence to fill the vacuum left by the Japanese Occupational Forces which had surrendered.

1966 was the year which Sukarno was forced to pass his executive powers to Lieutenant General Suharto. A Cabinet reshuffle followed in which Malik took up the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs. Malik, together with Suharto and Hamengkubuwono IX formed a triumvirate as they sought to reverse Sukarno's policies.

In March 1978, President Suharto chose Malik to be his Vice President. In his position as Vice President, Malik was not afraid to criticize the Government. In 1979, he admitted that the current regime had violated the spirit of the 1945 constitution. He also criticized the increasing feudalism in the regime. A reference to Suharto, who acted in the manner of a feudal Javanese King. In 1981, Malik commented on the corruption in the regime, referring it as an "epidemic". (Read more...)