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Phan Khắc Sửu ( 9 January 1893 – 24 May 1970) was a South Vietnamese engineer and politician who served as a minister in Bảo Đại's government of the State of Vietnam and as a civilian Chief of State of South Vietnam from 1964–65 during the rule of the various military juntas.

Early life and career

Phan Khắc Sửu was born on January 9, 1893, to a family of landowners in Mỹ Thuận village, An Trường canton, Cái Vồn district, Cần Thơ province, French Indochina. He was a founding member of the Cao Đài religion.
His Cao Đài name was Huỳnh Đức.

In 1914, he went to study abroad in Tunis and then to Paris, France where he obtained a degree in agricultural engineering.

After returning home, he worked as the political affairs officer of the Department of Economic and Technical Research in Cochinchina since 1930. However, in the same year, he joined in support of the Student Movement against the colonial policy of the government. He help initiated the Revolutionary Movement for the Unification of the People of Annam. In 1940, he joined and worked actively in the Vietnamese People's Revolutionary Party, a political organization that worked for Vietnam's independence. Therefore, he was sentenced to 8 years of hard labor by the colonial government of Indochina Governor General Jean Decoux and imprisoned on Côn Đảo.

After the Japanese coup d'etat of France on March 9, 1945, he was released and returned to the mainland. He and doctor Pham Ngoc Thach founded the Vietnam National Independence Party in Saigon, an anti-French political organization with Japanese support. He also joined the Dan Quy newspaper as the party's spokesman.

When the French recaptured the South, he expressed non-cooperation with both the French and Viet Minh authorities. In 1948, he joined the Vietnam Social Democratic Party, a political party with a majority of Hòa Hảo followers, advocating the Bảo Đại solution. With this support, when Bảo Đại's government was established in 1949, he was appointed Minister of Agriculture and Social Salvation, but shortly after he resigned.

In early 1954, the State of Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyễn Phúc Bửu Lộc invited him to be a Minister again, he also refused, accepting only to participate in the National Conference in the Sub-Committee on Independent Research of Vietnam.

First

Republic of Vietnam (1955-1963)

After Ngô Đình Diệm established the Republic of Vietnam and became President, Sửu repeatedly sent letters to demand and advise President Diệm to change the policy. Therefore, he was considered by the contemporary government to be a "opposition."

In February 1959, he was elected as a congressman representing the Saigon constituency. He then joined the Great National Solidarity Front with Nguyễn Tường Tam to oppose the government. On April 26, 1960, he and 17 dignitaries signed the proclamation, later known as the "Caravelle Declaration," criticizing the government's mistakes and demanding that the President be reformed. This made him become a thorn in the eyes of the government. On the occasion of the failed coup on November 11, 1960, he was accused of supporting the coup by the government and imprisoned. On the night of July 11, 1963, he was sentenced to 8 years by a special military court in Saigon along with Phan Quang Đán, Vũ Hồng Khanh, Bùi Lương. When defending himself in court, he said: "If I am guilty, then I only have one crime, which is to expel the French from Saigon, sin for the sake of the Nation!."

On July 31, 1963, he was exiled to Côn Đảo Prison to serve his sentence. However, only 3 months later, another coup broke out, overthrowing and assassinating Ngô Đình Diệm, he was released from prison and returned to Saigon.

Chief of State of the Republic of Vietnam (1964-1965)

After the "Three Heads" crisis, on September 8, 1964, he was invited to the National Synod by the Provisional Leadership Committee (the Three Heads). On September 27, the Synod elected Phan Khắc Sửu as President. He presided over the Synod that drafted the October 20, 1964 Covenant to replace the November 4, 1963 Provisional Charter, which placed power in the hands of the military to relinquish power and national sovereignty to elected representatives. On October 24, he was nominated by the Synod for the position of Chief of State.

After taking office as Chief of State, on November 4, 1964, he appointed Trần Văn Hương as prime minister, he was the second civilian prime minister since the First Republic of President Ngô Đình Diệm was overthrown by the rebels.
However, Trần Văn Hương's government was quickly paralyzed by the opposition of many circles as well as the lack of cooperation of the Military Council.

The crisis lasted for 2 months, on December 18, 1964, General Nguyễn Khánh led the young generals to establish the Military Council and two days later ordered the dissolution of the Synod. However, he was still retained as Head of State. On January 27, 1965, Prime Minister Hương was also forced to resign, handing over the Prime Minister's power to Deputy Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Oánh.

On February 16, 1965, General Nguyễn Khánh, in the name of Chairman of the Military Council, signed a decision to appoint Mr. Phan Khắc Sửu as the Chief of State and to appoint Dr. Phan Huy Quát as the Prime Minister to establish a new government. Less than 10 days later, on February 25, 1965, General Nguyễn Khánh was deposed by young generals and had to accept the position of ambassador-at-large abroad. Less than four months later, on June 5, 1965, Prime Minister Phan Huy Quát's civilian government was dissolved by the Military Council. The young generals formed a National Leadership Council and appointed Lieutenant General Nguyễn Văn Thiệu as the President and holds the role of Chief of State. On June 14, 1965, Phan Khắc Sửu officially left the position of Chief of State.

Famous for his integrity, in the position of Chief of State, he only eats meals provided by the government and his salary is transferred to the social welfare fund for the people. In particular Sửu's wife, Mrs. Sửu, who is also a Cao Đài believer with the name Huỳnh Điệp, refusing to sit in the position of Madame (First Lady) but rather sell clothes at Vườn Chuối Market in District 3 to pay for her life and take care of her children and grandchildren.

Second

Republic of Vietnam (1967-1975)

In 1966, he returned to political activities, was once again elected a member of the National Assembly and was elected Chairman of the National Assembly. In 1967, Sửu became a candidate for president in the 1967 South Vietnamese presidential election, he finished third with 513,374 votes (10.8%). The joint venture of two generals Nguyễn Văn Thiệu - Nguyễn Cao Kỳ, prevailed winning 1,649,561 of the votes (34.8%). The National Assembly of the Republic of Vietnam met and voted, with 58 votes in favor and 42 votes against certifying the election. After this incident, Sửu resigned in protest of the military junta gaining the presidency that had a democratic name but could not reverse the situation. Fed up, he withdrew from politics.

In 1968, he together with a number of dignitaries such as Nguyễn Thành Vinh and Trần Sinh Cát Bình founded the Vietnamese New People Movement.

Death

He passed away on May 24, 1970 in Saigon, South Vietnam. His funeral was held as a state funeral according to the rites of being a former Chief of State of the Republic of Vietnam, with President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu and his cabinet in attendance to honor and present a posthumous award known as the "First Bảo quốc Medal" to the late Sửu.

References

Heads of state of South Vietnam
Vietnamese people of the Vietnam War
Vietnamese Caodaists
1893 births
1970 deaths
Government ministers of Vietnam
South Vietnamese prisoners and detainees
South Vietnamese dissidents

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