Djandji Akbar Zahiruddin Tandjung (born 14 August 1945), more commonly referred to as Akbar Tandjung, is an
Indonesian
Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to:
* Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia
** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago
** Indonesian ...
politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
who served as the
Speaker
Speaker may refer to:
Society and politics
* Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly
* Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture
* A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially:
** I ...
of the
People's Representative Council
The People's Representative Council of the Republic of Indonesia ( id, Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Republik Indonesia, DPR-RI), also known as the House of Representatives, is one of two elected chambers of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), ...
from 1999 until 2004. A member of the
Golkar
)
, foundation =
, youth = AMPG (Golkar Party Young Force)
, women = KPPG (Golkar Party Women's Corps)
, newspaper = '' Suara Karya'' (1971–2016)
, headquarters = Jakarta
, ideology ...
party, he also served as the party's
chairman
The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...
from 1999 until 2004, and was a member of the
People's Representative Council
The People's Representative Council of the Republic of Indonesia ( id, Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Republik Indonesia, DPR-RI), also known as the House of Representatives, is one of two elected chambers of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), ...
from
East Java
East Java ( id, Jawa Timur) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia located in the easternmost hemisphere of Java island. It has a land border only with the province of Central Java to the west; the Java Sea and the Indian Ocean bord ...
from 1977 until 2004.
He served as a minister under former presidents
Suharto
Suharto (; ; 8 June 1921 – 27 January 2008) was an Indonesian army officer and politician, who served as the second and the longest serving president of Indonesia. Widely regarded as a military dictator by international observers, Suharto ...
and
B.J. Habibie. He was Speaker of the
People's Representative Council
The People's Representative Council of the Republic of Indonesia ( id, Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Republik Indonesia, DPR-RI), also known as the House of Representatives, is one of two elected chambers of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), ...
(DPR) from 1999 to 2004. In 2002 he was convicted of corruption over the embezzlement of funds intended for food relief for the poor, but the conviction was overturned on appeal in 2004.
Early life and education
Djandji Akbar Zahiruddin Tandjung was born 14 August 1945 in Sibolga during the
Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies
The Empire of Japan occupied the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) during World War II from March 1942 until after the end of the war in September 1945. It was one of the most crucial and important periods in modern Indonesian history.
In May ...
. The son of Zahiruddin Tandjung and Siti Kasmijah, he is a Muslim
Batak
Batak is a collective term used to identify a number of closely related Austronesian ethnic groups predominantly found in North Sumatra, Indonesia, who speak Batak languages. The term is used to include the Karo, Pakpak, Simalungun, Toba, ...
by ethnicity. He is the 13th of 16 siblings, four of whom died before adulthood.
He attended the Muhammadiyah People's School in Sorkam,
Central Tapanuli,
North Sumatra
North Sumatra ( id, Sumatra Utara) is a province of Indonesia located on the northern part of the island of Sumatra. Its capital and largest city is Medan. North Sumatra is Indonesia's fourth most populous province after West Java, East Java and ...
province. He also attended Christian Elementary School in
Medan
Medan (; English: ) is the capital and largest city of the Indonesian province of North Sumatra, as well as a regional hub and financial centre of Sumatra. According to the National Development Planning Agency, Medan is one of the four main ...
, North Sumatra. In
Jakarta
Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...
, he attended
Cikini Junior High School and then Kanisius High School, graduating in 1964.
He studied at the
University of Indonesia
The University of Indonesia ( id, Universitas Indonesia, abbreviated as UI) is a public university in Depok, West Java and Salemba, Jakarta, Indonesia. It is one of the oldest tertiary-level educational institutions in Indonesia (known as the Dut ...
, where he was active in student movements and served as president of the Faculty of Technology. From 1972 to 1974, he was president of the influential Indonesian Muslim Students Association (HMI). He also joined the Indonesian National Youth Committee (KNPI), which is affiliated to Golkar.
Political career
In 1976, then-Golkar leader Amir Murtono invited Akbar to stand for election for the party. In 1977, Akbar was elected to the House of Representatives, representing Golkar for
East Java
East Java ( id, Jawa Timur) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia located in the easternmost hemisphere of Java island. It has a land border only with the province of Central Java to the west; the Java Sea and the Indian Ocean bord ...
province. He was re-elected in 1982 and 1987. In the late 1980s, when long-serving president
Suharto
Suharto (; ; 8 June 1921 – 27 January 2008) was an Indonesian army officer and politician, who served as the second and the longest serving president of Indonesia. Widely regarded as a military dictator by international observers, Suharto ...
started to more actively seek Muslim support, Akbar became deputy secretary general of Golkar. Under Suharto, he served as State Minister for Youth Affairs and Sport from 1988 to 1993. He then served as State Minister of Housing from March 1993 to May 1998. Under Suharto's successor
B.J. Habibie, he served as State Secretary from May 1998 to May 1999.
He was chairman of Golkar from 1998 to 2004, helping to rebuild the party following
Suharto's 1998 resignation.
At the Golkar
convention in December 2004, Akbar lost the party's chairmanship to
Jusuf Kalla, at that time the country's
vice president
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...
.
Akbar has remained an influential figure within Golkar. Ahead of the
2014 Indonesian presidential elections, he criticized Golkar's plan to nominate then-party chairman
Aburizal Bakrie
Aburizal Bakrie (born 15 November 1946) is an Indonesian politician and a widely recognised successful businessman in Indonesia. From 2004 until 2005 Bakrie served as Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Economy. From 2005 until 2009 he serv ...
for the presidency. The party ended up dropping Bakrie as its candidate and threw its weight behind
Prabowo Subianto
Prabowo Subianto Djojohadikusumo (born 17 October 1951) is an Indonesian politician, businessman and former army lieutenant general who is the currently-appointed Minister of Defense of the Republic of Indonesia. He is the son of Sumitro Djojoh ...
, with Akbar serving as one of his campaign advisers.
In 2017, Akbar expressed concern that Golkar could lose legislative seats in Indonesia's 2019 elections because of a negative public perception of its chairman,
Setya Novanto
Setya Novanto (born 12 November 1955) is a former Indonesian politician, presently serving a 15 year jail sentence for corruption. He was chairman of Golkar Party and speaker of the People's Representative Council ( Indonesian: ''Dewan Perwakila ...
. He said the party should make changes to improve its image.
Corruption conviction, appeal and acquittal
In September 2002,
Central Jakarta
Central Jakarta ( id, Jakarta Pusat) is one of the five administrative cities () which form the Special Capital Region of Jakarta. It had 902,973 inhabitants according to the 2010 censusBiro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. and 1,056,896 at the 2 ...
District Court sentenced Akbar to three years in jail for embezzling Rp 40 billion (about $4.8 million) in state funds that were supposed to have been spent on a 1999 food program for the poor. Prosecutors had recommended a four-year jail sentence, although the maximum penalty for corruption and abuse of power is 20 years. Two other people involved in the scandal, Dadang Sukandar and Winfried Simatupang, were each sentenced to 18 months in jail. The two served their time in Jakarta's
Cipinang penitentiary, but Akbar never went to jail. He remained free pending a lengthy appeal process and continued to hold his government and political jobs. In January 2003, Jakarta High Court upheld his conviction. In February 2004, a panel of five Supreme Court judges overturned Akbar's corruption conviction on the grounds he had just been following orders in 1999 from then-president
B.J. Habibie. After the ruling, a dissenting judge,
Abdul Rahman Saleh, said Akbar had engaged in "corrupt practice" and was guilty of "shameful conduct because he failed to show minimal appropriate efforts to protect state money”.
Honours
*
Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun
The is a Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge features rays of sunlight f ...
(2022)
References
External links
Profile at TokohIndonesia.com(In Indonesian)
Akbar Tandjung Institute(In Indonesian)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tandjung, Akbar
1945 births
Living people
People of Batak descent
People from Sibolga
Speakers of the People's Representative Council
Candidates in the 2009 Indonesian presidential election
Golkar politicians
Indonesian Muslims
Grand Cordons of the Order of the Rising Sun