P

resident Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has given long-overdue recognition to the country’s first president and vice president, Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta, by giving them the title of National Heroes.

Presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha said on Tuesday that Yudhoyono would host a ceremony on Wednesday to bestow the titles at the Merdeka Palace.

“The nation’s highest tributes for our founding fathers are based on their services when they were both fighting for and proclaiming our independence, and also the services that they contributed afterward,” he told The Jakarta Post.

Julian said that members of the Sukarno and Hatta families have agreed to attend the ceremony and accept the titles on their behalf.

The presidential spokesman also shrugged off speculation that the decision was politically-motivated, given the fact that descendants of the two figures are now major political players in the country.

Sukarno’s daughter Megawati Soekarnoputri is the chair of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) while her younger sister, Rachmawati Soekarnoputri, joined the National Democratic (NasDem) Party in September.

The first daughter of Hatta, Meutia Farida Hatta, served as Women’s Empowerment minister in Yudhoyono’s first Cabinet from 2004 to 2009. She is now chair of a minor political party, the Indonesian Justice and Unity Party (PKPI).

Meutia’s younger sister, Halida Hatta, founded the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), along with the former leader of the Indonesian Military’s (TNI) Special Forces Command (Kopassus), Prabowo Subianto. Halida
resigned from the rising political party on July, citing personal reasons.

Julian said that the granting of the titles was based on a system regulated in Law No. 20/2009.

Under the law, a candidate to be “hero” is usually nominated by regional governments (municipal or regency level), which then submit the name to the provincial government and later to the Social Affairs Ministry.

Following a selection phase at the ministry, the name is taken to the seven member Board of Titles, Orders of Merit and Decorations for examination before final approval is given by the President.

A regulation from the Social Affairs Ministry stipulates that the family of a National Hero is entitled to monthly benefit of Rp 1.5 million (US$176) and an annual health allowance of Rp 3 million.

The New Order regime of Soeharto balked at a proposal to name Sukarno a National Hero considering his close ties with the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).

Responding to the granting of the title to Sukarno, the chairperson of the PDI-P faction at the House of Representatives Puan Maharani, who is also Sukarno’s granddaughter, said that the policy would end debate as to whether Sukarno deserved the title.

“It’s all clear now that Bung Karno is a national hero. The award is recognition for his services and sacrifices for Indonesia,” Puan said.