Hatta, Mohammad
(1902–1980), Indonesian nationalist leader and politician. Born in West Sumatra, Mohammad Hatta studied economics in the Netherlands, where he led the student group Perhimpunan Indonesia (Indonesian Association, or PI) from 1922. In 1927 he was tried in the Netherlands for sedition but was acquitted. His thinking was strongly influenced by socialism, but by 1931 Communists dominated the PI, and he was expelled. He returned to Indonesia in 1932 and led the PNI-Baru (the "New" Indonesian National Education), a nationalist party that aimed to build a large but unobtrusive cadre party. In 1934, however, he was exiled, first to Boven Digul in Dutch New Guinea, and then in 1936 to the Banda Island of Indonesia. In 1942 he reluctantly agreed to work with the Japanese occupation, and in August 1945 he became vice president of the independent Indonesian Republic.
Although the vice presidency had no power, Hatta became a rallying point for opposition to the left, and from January 1948 he led a nonparliamentary cabinetthat suppressed the Communist Party following its participation in an abortive revolt in the East Java town of Madiun in September–October 1948. He was a member of the Indonesian delegation that concluded negotiations with the Dutch for the formal transfer of sovereignty in December 1949. In the 1950s he again attracted those opposed to President Sukarno (1901–1970) and the left, but when he resigned as vice president in 1956, he was unable to marshal enough support to return to executive power.
Vice President Mohammad Hatta in 1949. (HULTON-DEUTSCH COLLECTION/CORBIS)Further Reading
Hatta, Mohammad. (1972) Portrait of a Patriot: Selected Writings. The Hague, Netherlands; Paris: Mouton.
Rose, Mavis. (1987) Indonesia Free: A Political Biography of Mohammad Hatta. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
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