Syamsudin Mahmud

Syamsuddin Mahmud (24 April 1935 – 22 May 2021) was an Indonesian economist and politician. He served as the Governor of Aceh from 1993 until 1998 and from 1998 until 2000.

Early life Syamsuddin Mahmud was born on 24 April 1935 at Lampoh Lada village, a small locality in the regency of Pidie, Aceh. During his childhood, Syamsuddin was known as a persistent reciter of the Quran, reciting a minimum of two pages of the Quran every day. He also visited surau regularly to attend Quran reciting lectures.

Syamsuddin's parents were late to enroll him in elementary school due to the Japanese occupation of Aceh during World War II. As a result, his education lagged behind other schoolchildren of the same age. However, within several years, Syamsuddin managed to catch up and skipped the 5th grade, allowing him to progress along with other students of his age.

Governor of Aceh

Election

1993 gubernatorial election After Governor of Aceh Ibrahim Hassan was appointed a minister in Suharto's cabinet, the office of the governor of Aceh became vacant. There were two candidates for this election: Syamsuddin and Usman Hasan, a member of the People's Representative Council.

The competition between the two was described by political observers as a fight between "moths and elephants". Although Syamsuddin had held a provincial-level office for about a decade, he did not publicly appear very often and was overshadowed by the flamboyant and loud Ibrahim Hassan. Meanwhile, Usman Hasan was the leader of the Golkar party—the ruling party at that time—in the parliament and was described as a "national-level figure" by the Acehnese. Usman was rumored to be supported by the government at that time.

At the parliamentary gubernatorial election held on 13 May 1993, Syamsuddin won the election with 26 votes. The other candidate, Usman Hasan, obtained 12 votes, while a sham candidate named Malik Ridwan Badai obtained three votes.

1998 gubernatorial election At the end of his first term as governor, Syamsuddin sought re-election and was put forward as a candidate for governor. He managed to win the election held in April 1998 with 25 votes, with his main opponent Abdullah Puteh obtaining 17 votes and sham candidate Asnawi Hasjmy 3 votes. However, after three months, Syamsuddin had still not been sworn in for his second term, sparking allegations that President B. J. Habibie—Suharto's successor—intentionally delayed confirming the election results. Syamsuddin was finally sworn in for his second term on 19 June 1998.

Aceh autonomy movement After he assumed his second term as Governor of Aceh, Syamsuddin quietly supported the Aceh autonomy movement. In the midst of escalating involvement by the military against the Free Aceh Movement, Syamsuddin requested the president via the minister of home affairs at his inauguration to stop conducting military operations in Aceh, stating that the operations caused "physical and mental torment" to the Acehnese people.

Several months before his resignation as governor in June 2000, Syamsuddin put forward a bill that would transform Aceh into a federated state similar to a U.S. state. He argued that the bill conformed with the People's Consultative Assembly decision that gave Aceh a special autonomy status.

Initially, Syamsuddin was shocked when he received the decree a week later, as he felt that he was not involved in any corruption or criminal case during his seven-year tenure as governor. Syamsuddin later stated that he was "not disappointed with Wahid's decree" and had no plans to sue the president for enacting the decree. After accepting the decree, Syamsuddin handed over his governor's office to the acting governor—previously his second-term vice governor—Ridwan Ramli, on 21 June 2000.

In exchange, Wahid offered him a position as the Deputy Head of the National Development Planning Agency. Syamsuddin refused the offer, citing that he was sixty five years old at the time, while the maximum age to hold the office was sixty years. Syamsuddin stated that he would resume his previous career as a lecturer in the Syiah Kuala University and as an author.

Personal life Syamsuddin was first married to Mariana, an English lecturer at the Syiah Kuala University. The couple had four children, Phaumi Sjamsuddin, Susi Sjamsuddin, Yanna Sjamsuddin, and Riva Sjamsuddin. Exactly three months later, Syamsuddin married for the third time to Khairah, a widow whose husband also died several months before the marriage.

Explanatory notes