Vice President of Indonesia

Vice-President of the Republic of Indonesia
Vice-Presidential Seal
Incumbent Jusuf Kalla since 20 October 2014
Style	His/Her Excellency
Residence	Vice-Presidential Palace, Jakarta
Appointer	Direct popular election
Term length	Five years renewable once
Inaugural holder	Mohammad Hatta 18 August 1945
Formation	Constitution of Indonesia 18 August 1945
Website	Official Website

The Vice-President of the Republic of Indonesia (Indonesian: Wakil Presiden Republik Indonesia) is the first in the line of succession in the Republic of Indonesia.

The Indonesian Vice Presidency was established during the formulation of the 1945 constitution by the Researching Body for the Preparation of the Indonesian Independence (BPUPKI). The office was first filled on 18 August 1945 when Mohammad Hatta was elected by acclamation. The election was conducted by the Committee for the Preparation of Indonesian Independence (PPKI) because the body responsible for the Vice-Presidential elections, the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), had not been formed yet. In the early days of the Republic, the office of Vice-President showed how important it can be. On 16 October 1945, Hatta announced a Vice-Presidential decree which turned the Central National Committee of Indonesia (KNIP) equal status with that of the President. As a result of this decree, the KNIP was able to separate the role of Head of State and Head of Government on 11 November 1945. Although a new constitution had not been set up yet, Indonesia was now a de facto Parliamentary Democracy.

During the Indonesian National Revolution, both Hatta and Sukarno were captured by the Dutch in Yogyakarta on 18 December 1948. Together with Sukarno, Hatta gave mandate for Syafruddin Prawiranegara to form an emergency Government. This was done and the Emergency Government of the Republic of Indonesia (PDRI) was formed in Sumatra with Prawiranegara as Chairman. Prawiranegara handed back his mandate to Sukarno and consequently, to Hatta on 13 July 1949.

Now officially an independent nation, Indonesia adopted the Provisional Constitution, a document which defined the President's role as a ceremonial Head of State whose role was to appoint a Prime Minister on the advice of formateurs. Although the Vice Presidency continued to exist, the form of Government was now officially a Parliamentary Democracy and there was not a significant role for the Vice-President to play. On 1 December 1956, partly because of his differences with Sukarno, Hatta resigned from the Vice Presidency.