Jusuf Kalla

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Image:Fotowapresdn.jpg Jusuf Kalla (born Watampone, South Sulawesi; May 15, 1942) is the current Vice President of Indonesia.

He is also the leader of the Golkar party after defeating Akbar Tanjung during the party's convention in December 2004. During the preceding election campaign, Kalla had been expelled from the party due to his support for the non-Golkar candidate Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY). The party invited him back and elevated him to the leadership following his appointment as Vice President partly due to his incentives to the party.

Kalla is dubbed Indonesia's "most powerful vice president"<ref name="guerin">Guerin, B. 2006. "Indonesia's brewing power struggle" in Asia Times Online July 13, 2006. Retrieved August 8, 2006 from http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/HG13Ae02.html.</ref> although his character is far less charismatic in comparison with Mohammad Hatta.

His leadership of Golkar gives him a Parliamentary advantage unmatched by the current President, whose Democratic Party garnered less than 10% in the most recent Parliamentary elections.

Kalla's status of being Vice President while concurrently serving as Chairman of Golkar caused rumors of rivalry with SBY.

1 Quotes
2 References
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Quotes

On the practice of some Indonesian women having short-term, informal relationships with foreigners: "If the janda [divorcees] get modest homes even if the tourists later leave them, then it's OK. The children resulting from these relationships will have good genes. There will be more television actors and actresses from these pretty boys and girls."<ref name="jakartapost">The Jakarta Post. 2006. "VP moots using women in Arab tourism push" June 29, 2006. Retrieved August 8, 2006 from http://www.thejakartapost.com/yesterdaydetail.asp?fileid=20060629.@02.</ref> The statement has been dismissed as a joke.<ref name="jakartapost2">The Jakarta Post. 2006. "VP says Mideast tourism remarks misunderstood" July 1, 2006. Retrieved August 8, 2006 from http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailweekly.asp?fileid=20060701.@03.</ref>