Habibie had been in intensive care at the hospital for a heart condition for ten days.

“Allow me on behalf of all the Indonesian people and government to express my deep condolences on the passing of Bapak Prof. B. J. Habibie at 6:05 p.m. at RSPAD Gatot Subroto,” President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo told reporters at the hospital on Wednesday night. “I think he was a statesman that we should take as an example and role model in life.”

The prominent engineer, born on June 25, 1936, served as research and technology minister under Soeharto for 20 years, before being thrust into the role vice president during the dying days of the New Order regime in March 1998.

Renowned for his intelligence and known as “the golden son” of Soeharto for his close relationship with the country’s longest-serving president, he became the first, and shortest-serving, president of the Reform Era, assuming the office after Soeharto’s resignation in May 1998 and relinquishing it after fresh legislative elections held in October 1999.

Habibie is known for leading the country to embrace a democratic and open era after Soeharto’s authoritarian rule. Before the 1999 general election, he oversaw a bevy of democratic reforms, the release of political prisoners and a revision of the Press Law that abolished the requirement for press organizations to obtain a government-issued publishing license (SIUPP).

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