More or Less Than a \'Spare Tire\'

The faces of party chairmen are adorned with big smiles and radiate joy whenever they meet President Jokowi. They are hoping to be invited to accompanying Jokowi in the upcoming presidential election.

KOMPAS/DIDIE SW

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The faces of party chairmen are adorned with big smiles and radiate joy whenever they meet President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo. They are hoping to be invited to accompanying Jokowi in the upcoming presidential election. Why is the candidacy for vice president much sought after when it is nothing more than a "spare tire"?

In a presidential system, a vice president is similar to a spare tire. As with the spare tires for motor vehicles, the vice president will serve only when the president is absent or incapacitated, either temporarily or permanently. Our 1945 Constitution adheres to this principle. The position of vice president is, relatively speaking not much different from that of Cabinet ministers.

Article 4, Paragraph 2 of the 1945 Constitution states: "In fulfilling their obligations, the President shall be assisted by one Vice President". The phrase "the President is assisted" that is used in the constitution resembles the content of Article 17, Paragraph 1 of the same Constitution, which reads: "The President is assisted by state ministers".

Nevertheless, the position of vice president in the political history of our nation is very strategic. When Mohammad Hatta became the vice president of President Soekarno in the early years of independence, the political role of the vice president was critical to changing the course of our nation. Among these were the issuance of Government Declaration No. X, which the vice president signed on Oct. 16, 1945, on the establishment of the Central Indonesian National Committee (KNIP) as a legislative body, long before the formation of the People\'s Consultative Assembly (MPR) and the House of Representatives (DPR) by public election.

No less important was the government declaration, which vice president Hatta signed on Nov. 3, 1945, containing the requirements for the formation of political parties that finally urged the birth of the multi-party system. In fact, President Soekarno had earlier indicated the urgency for the formation of a national party or a state party for the nascent, independent Indonesia.

So strategic was Bung Hatta\'s position as an accompaniment to Bung Karno that the two men who proclaimed Indonesian independence – Soekarno-Hatta who went on to serve as the country’s first president and vice president, were deemed Dwitunggal (duumvirate).

The two founders of the nation frequently had differing political views, approaches and also strategies, but had one common goal: the realization of an independent Indonesia that was not only sovereign politically and economically independent, but also possessed character and cultural identity. After serving as vice president for almost 11 years, Bung Hatta finally resigned at the end of 1956.

Sole executive

Except for Sultan Hamengku Buwono IX (1973-1978) and Adam Malik (1978-1983) who played a significant role during their terms in power, the other vice presidents of the Soeharto regime, Umar Wirahadikusumah, Sudharmono, Try Sutrisno and BJ Habibie, tended to be mere protocol. The vice president functioned when representing the president or when asked to open, close or inaugurate an event, whether government, state or public events. Very little, if any, of the president’s political authority was shared or divided with the vice president.

Habibie, who had a close personal relationship with Soeharto, could be involved more because he was authorized to lead a number of strategic industries through the Strategic Industries Supervisory Agency (BPIS), ever since this son of Parepare was appointed as minister of research and technology. However, the BPIS ended after the fall of Soeharto and the end of his regime.

Therefore, the size and scope of a vice president’s role heavily depends on their personality on the one hand, and the extent to which their president is willing to share authority. This is because in theory, the institution of the president is composed of a single executive.

Here, too, lies a difference with a parliamentary system, because a prime minister\'s power is collegial in that it is divided among the parties of the supporting coalition. Each cabinet member in a parliamentary system is given a formal political mandate as well as represents their party.

The logical consequences of the concept of the presidential institution as a single executive include, first and foremost, that even though the president is the head of state as well as the head of government, the vice president is neither a deputy head of state nor a deputy head of government. Second, the authority of the president cannot be divided or shared with the vice president, unless the president desires it.

Third, as a consequence of the two previous arguments, the demand for vice presidents to possess some authority is essentially irrelevant and incompatible with a presidential system. The same analogy can be applied to the regional system, wherein deputy governors, deputy regents and deputy mayors basically do not represent the regional head.

”Real president”

During the Reform Era, our nation had four vice presidents: Megawati Soekarnoputri (1999-2001), who became president with Hamzah Haz (2001-2004) as her vice president, then Jusuf Kalla (2004-2009) and Boediono (2009-2014) who were vice presidents under the leadership of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) over two terms. Jusuf Kalla became vice president for the second time (2014-2019) under Jokowi.

Megawati\'s role as vice president was very significant, especially because of president Abdurrahman Wahid’s physical condition, which did not allow him to control and manage the government optimally. Its effect was that, during Megawati\'s term as vice president, the office of the vice president expanded beyond the bureaucratic scope of the Office of the Presidential Secretariat at the State Palace.

When Jusuf Kalla became vice president during SBY’s first term, the Bugis entrepreneur born in Watampone, Bone, did not want to merely be a spare tire. As vice president, Kalla did not only play a significant role behind SBY\'s economic policies, but also led the Helsinki Agreement negotiations and finally brought peace to Aceh in 2005. Amid SBY\'s inaction, Kall’s role as vice president became so prominent that a number of media called him "The Real President".

Regardless of the normative position of the vice president as a spare tire, the vice presidential candidate in the 2019 election is very important for several reasons. First, the vice presidential candidate, for both Jokowi and Prabowo Subianto – if the latter actually advances as a candidate – has a great opportunity to run for president and even be elected president in the 2024 general elections. The political investment of a sitting vice president for five years will be a big capital as a presidential candidate in the following election.

Second, for political parties, having a candidate for vice president is expected to provide electoral incentives to boost the party’s electability in the legislative election. Third, Article 8, Paragraph 1 of the 1945 Constitution mandates: "If the President dies, resigns, is dismissed or cannot perform his duties in his tenure, the Vice President will succeed him until the end of his presidency.” As is understood, President Soeharto used Article 8 when he resigned in 1998 to be replaced by Vice President Habibie.

For Jokowi, it does not really matter whether the vice president is a "spare tire" or even "The Real President". I believe Jokowi expects a vice president who is not merely honest, sincere and possesses integrity, but also a figure who has finished fulfilling their own interests in order to focus wholeheartedly in working to serve an Indonesia that is sovereign, more just and more prosperous.

Syamsuddin Haris, Research Professor, Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI)