That Woman

In 1954, after twelve years of marriage to one wife, Indonesia's revered President Soekarno decided to take unto himself a second. Indonesia's Moslem clubwomen, surprisingly as jealous of female prerogative as those in any U.S. midwestern town, were icy with disapproval, but there was little they could do about it. Blessed by Islamic law and local custom, the nation's second First Lady, a divorcee of 32, was duly ensconced in the presidential palace at Bogor. Cleaving loyally to the first First Lady, 31-year-old Fatmawati, all that the indignant clubwomen could do was to snub the interloper (TIME, Oct. 24) and refer to her with a sneer as "that woman in Bogor."

Last week the Indonesian government took up Fatmawati's formal request for a divorce. She picked up her bags and her five children and left Freedom Palace. With a what-did-I-tell-you click of the tongue, the clubwomen promptly petitioned for a new law that would require Presidents to get parliamentary permission before marrying in office. That, they thought, might at least deter President Soekarno from taking his full limit of wives, which is four.

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