Eddy Sabara (17 February 1927 – 30 September 1995) was an Indonesian civil servant and military officer. He was the Governor of

Southeast Sulawesi Southeast Sulawesi ( id, Sulawesi Tenggara) is a province on the island of Sulawesi, forming the southeastern peninsula of that island, together with a number of substantial offshore islands such as Buton, Muna, Kabaena and Wawonii (formerly ca ...

for twelve years between 1966 and 1978, and held acting governor positions in four other provinces due to his position in the

Ministry of Home Affairs An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

Early life

Sabara was born in

Kendari Kendari is the capital city of the Indonesian province of Southeast Sulawesi. With a population of 345,107 according to the 2020 census, it is the most populous city in the province, and the fourth most on Sulawesi. The city covers an area of , o ...

, then part of

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

, on 17 February 1927. His father was a municipal police officer. Sabara was the last of seven siblings, and he began his education in Kendari before moving to

Makassar Makassar (, mak, ᨆᨀᨔᨑ, Mangkasara’, ) is the capital of the Indonesian province of South Sulawesi. It is the largest city in the region of Eastern Indonesia and the country's fifth-largest urban center after Jakarta, Surabaya, Med ...

for further education until 1946, where he attended school with future Indonesian nationalist figure Robert Wolter Monginsidi.

Career

Military service

After completing his education in Makassar, Sabara joined a group of youths from Sulawesi who left for Java to fight in the

Indonesian National Revolution The Indonesian National Revolution, or the Indonesian War of Independence, was an armed conflict and diplomatic struggle between the Republic of Indonesia and the Dutch Empire and an internal social revolution during Aftermath of WWII, postw ...

, as the South Sulawesi campaign of

Raymond Westerling Raymond Pierre Paul Westerling (31 August 1919 – 26 November 1987) was a Greek-Dutch military officer of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army. He orchestrated a contraguerrilla in Sulawesi during the Indonesian National Revolution after ...

was raging in Makassar and its vicinity. Once in

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

, Sabara joined a battalion in the nationalist government, having been before grown an interest in the military due to watching KNIL drills as a child. In 1948, he was a first lieutenant in command of a reserve company which was about to be deployed to

Sulawesi Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu Ar ...

when his unit was attacked and disarmed by Communist militias during the

Madiun Affair The Madiun Affair ( id, Peristiwa Madiun), known locally as the Communist Party of Indonesia rebellion of 1948 ( id, Pemberontakan Partai Komunis Indonesia 1948), was an armed conflict between the government of the self-proclaimed Republic of ...

. Sabara was imprisoned and was apparently about to be executed before Army units from the

Siliwangi Division Military Regional Command III/Siliwangi ( id, Komando Daerah Militer III/Siliwangi or Kodam III/Siliwangi) is an Indonesian Army Regional Military Command that covers Banten and West Java province. The division was formed during the Indonesian ...

defeated the Communists and freed Sabara's unit. During his time in Java, he also enrolled in the Magelang Military Academy. After the revolution, he commanded units within the Hasanuddin Military Region, eventually becoming commander of its Regional Training Regiment by 1965. During his time at Hasanuddin, he participated in the campaign against Andi Aziz's rebellion. He had also commanded a reserve brigade during

Operation Trikora Operation Trikora was an Indonesian military operation which aimed to seize and annex the Dutch overseas territory of Netherlands New Guinea in 1961 and 1962. After negotiations, the Netherlands signed the New York Agreement with Indonesia on ...

in 1962.

Governor and civil servant

On 14 October 1966, he was appointed as acting governor of

, before being made full governor for two terms starting in 1967. The previous civilian governor and the first elected governor of the province,

La Ode Hadi LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on Figure 8 ( ...

, was forced to leave his position in 1966 before he had held it for two years following a wave of demonstrations during the transition to the New Order, allowing the popular Sabara (at that time a

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

) to take over. Southeast Sulawesi was very sparsely populated at the start of his tenure, with little to no government budget, and Sabara opted to relocate locals (mostly nomadic farmers) alongside resettlement areas where roads were planned. According to Sabara in a 1983 interview with ''

Tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

'', his wife initially believed that his appointment to Southeast Sulawesi was an exile of sorts. He also drew in migrants from densely populated

and

Bali Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nu ...

. Despite a lack of existing traffic at the time, he lobbied for the central government to fund key roads, especially between

and Kolaka, believing that the road would attract agricultural settlers. During his governorship, he also served in the

People's Consultative Assembly The People's Consultative Assembly of the Republic of Indonesia ( id, Majelis Permusyawaratan Rakyat Republik Indonesia, MPR-RI) is the legislative branch in Politics of Indonesia, Indonesia's political system. It is composed of the membe ...

as a regional representative. He was initially intended to serve just one term, and after its expiry in 1973 a lack of replacement candidates resulted in his term initially being extended by several months, and later a second term. After the conclusion of his governorship in 1978, he was assigned in 1979 to the

inspector general An inspector general is an investigative official in a civil or military organization. The plural of the term is "inspectors general". Australia The Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (Australia) (IGIS) is an independent statutory off ...

, and later became the

director general A director general or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'' ) or general director is a senior executive (government), executive officer, often the chief executive offi ...

of the ministry's regional autonomy directorate. During his time there, he became acting governors for

Jambi Jambi is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the east coast of central Sumatra and spans to the Barisan Mountains in the west. Its capital and largest city is Jambi. The province has a land area of 50,160.05 km2, and a sea area of 3, ...

(1979),

Central Sulawesi Central Sulawesi (Indonesian: ''Sulawesi Tengah'') is a province of Indonesia located at the centre of the island of Sulawesi. The administrative capital and largest city is located in Palu. The 2010 census recorded a population of 2,635,009 for ...

(25 November 1980 – 1981), and

Aceh Aceh ( ), officially the Aceh Province ( ace, Nanggroë Acèh; id, Provinsi Aceh) is the westernmost province of Indonesia. It is located on the northernmost of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capital and largest city. Granted a s ...

(15 March – 27 August 1981), During his temporary governorships of Aceh and Central Sulawesi, he had encountered political gridlocks in the provincial legislatures during their attempt to appoint a definitive governor. In 27 October 1981, he was also again appointed acting governor of Southeast Sulawesi, the eighth time he was sworn in as Governor. Afterwards, he was once more appointed as acting governor of Central Kalimantan (7 October 1983 – 23 January 1984). Due to this track record, he was known by journalists as being the "acting governor specialist" in the early 1980s. During his time in the ministry, he also revived the deputy governor position, based on his own experience as governor where a lack of a deputy often caused issues especially with the provincial legislature. He was awarded with the Star of Mahaputera, 3rd class (''Bintang Mahaputera Utama'') on 14 August 1982. In 1984, he was also appointed into the

Supreme Advisory Council The Supreme Advisory Council ( id, Dewan Pertimbangan Agung, DPA), is a defunct Council, advisory council for the President of Indonesia. Its function was to give advice on state and foreign affairs. Background There was no credible source about ...

. He died on 30 September 1995, due to his

heart disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, hea ...

and kidney-related complications. He was buried at the Kalibata Heroes Cemetery. At the time of his death, he held the rank of

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sabara, Eddy 1927 births 1995 deaths Indonesian generals People from Kendari Indonesian National Military Academy alumni Members of the People's Consultative Assembly Governors of Aceh Governors of Jambi Governors of Central Sulawesi Governors of Southeast Sulawesi Indonesian civil servants Governors of Central Kalimantan