Hardi

Hardi (23 May 191823 April 1998) was an Indonesian politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister in the Djuanda Cabinet between 1957 and 1959 and Ambassador of Indonesia to Vietnam between 1976 and 1979.

Biography Hardi was born in Pati Regency, today in Central Java, on 23 May 1918. He received a bachelor's in law from Gadjah Mada University. He worked as a civil servant in Pati during the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies, and also for a period of time at the traditional law office. During this term as Deputy Prime Minister, Hardi was responsible for negotiations (leading a delegation dubbed as the "Hardi Mission") with Darul Islam militias in Aceh, which resulted in the recognition of Aceh as a special region by the central government in May 1959. He stopped being a legislator in 1968.

New Order Hardi remained a member of the People's Consultative Assembly until his resignation in 1970. Around this time, he was also removed from the PNI's leadership following a party congress in Semarang, and he later became a member of the Indonesian Democratic Party. He also became a member of the Supreme Advisory Council, and served as Ambassador to Vietnam between 1976 and 1979, for which he resigned from his advisory position.

While during the 1970s it was common practice for the Suharto government to place military officers in ambassadorial posts, Vietnam was an exception, and Suharto apparently noted to Hardi that "he was not yet able to put a military or a career diplomat as an ambassador to Hanoi". Additionally, in 1976, when the Communist Party of Vietnam was about to hold a party congress, a diplomatic move by Hardi dissuaded the Vietnamese from inviting representatives from the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), who were then in exile in Beijing.

Personal life Hardi was married to Lasmidjah Hardi.