who had left Jakarta after being accused of corruption) attended a meeting with a number of dissident officers such as Maludin Simbolon. Following debates (the military commanders allegedly wanted to declare Sumatra's independence, which the civilian leaders opposed), the group released a statement which called the Djuanda Cabinet unconstitutional, and called for a cabinet led by Hatta and the Sultan of Yogyakarta Hamengkubuwono IX to be formed. Sjafruddin also went to Palembang and held discussions with the potential dissident Colonel Barlian, who was the regional commander of the armed forces in South Sumatra. Barlian refused to commit his forces to support a potential rebellion. Sjafruddin also wrote an open letter to Sukarno, which voiced his opposition to the "fascist" Guided Democracy and called for a return to the 1945 Constitution. While Natsir and Harahap claimed to have specific reasons to be in Sumatra, Sjafruddin openly admitted to having fled Jakarta, writing another open letter to Sukarno on 23 January, saying that "he was not ready to die stupidly". On 1 February, Sjafruddin was removed from his office as Bank Indonesia governor by Presidential Order, and he was replaced by Lukman Hakim. The rebellion On 15 February 1958, the Revolutionary Government of the Republic of Indonesia (PRRI) was declared in Padang by Lt. Col Ahmad Husein, with Sjafruddin being named as both its prime minister and finance minister. According to Sjafruddin in his later autobiography, he refused Husein's request that he sign the declaration which proclaimed PRRI, in order to emphasize that PRRI's formation was not his initiative. Sjafruddin had previously attempted to convince the military officers to exercise restraint and avoid a civil war, but he eventually agreed to take part in PRRI. The Indonesian government under prime minister Djuanda Kartawidjaja issued an order to arrest Sjafruddin and the other civilian leaders the following day, and within a week aerial attacks were launched against cities in West Sumatra. By April, government forces had landed in Padang and secured it with little to no resistance. Once he learned of PRRI's military collapse, Sjafruddin vowed in anger to "stay here in the jungle" and adding that "it won't be the first time". By 5 May, PRRI's capital at Bukittinggi had been captured by the Indonesian government. Within four months, the government had completely defeated PRRI militarily. PRRI's leaders had failed to gain significant popular support for the movement, and while it initially