Towards Independence, precisely on August 7, 1945, the PPKI (Indonesian Independence Preparatory Committee) was formed to replace BPUPKI, led by Ir. Soekarno and Drs. Mohamad Hatta as chairman and deputy chairman, respectively. There are 27 members representing the entire Indonesian nation, including Oto Iskandar in Nata. On August 18, 1945, PPKI held its first session with the agenda of ratifying the 1945 Constitution and electing the president and vice president.
After Ir. Soekarno opened the court, suddenly, R. Oto Iskandar in Nata stood up and spoke, “Due to the current situation, I hope that this Presidential election will be held by acclamation and I will nominate Bung Karno himself as a candidate.” R. Oto Iskandar’s proposal in Nata was greeted with applause from all members of the session and was immediately welcomed by the chairman of the session, Ir. Soekarno, “Gentlemen, thank you very much for your trust, and I am now unanimously elected by you gentlemen as President of the Republic of Indonesia.”
The room was filled with loud applause from the trial participants as a sign of approval of R. Oto Iskandar’s proposal in Nata. Next, the trial participants stood up and sang the song Indonesia Raya and ended by shouting in unison, “Long live Bung Karno! Long live Bung Karno! Long live Bung Karno!” In such a situation, R. Oto Iskandar in Nata stood up again and spoke, “Even for the election of the Deputy Head of State of Indonesia, I propose this new method to be implemented. And I propose that Bung Hatta become Deputy Head of State of Indonesia.” The court participants applauded again. They welcomed R. Oto Iskandar’s brilliant proposal in Nata while standing up and singing the song Indonesia Raya. After that, they shouted, “Long live Bung Hatta! Long live Bung Hatta! Long live Bung Hatta!”