Lessons and Fairy Tales
THE HISTORY OF INDONESIA LAST
Independence era
Independence proclamation
Hearing the news that Japan no longer had the power to make such a decision on August 16, Sukarno read out "Proclamation" the next day. News of the proclamation spread through radio and leaflets while Indonesian military forces in the war, the National Defense Force (PETA), young men, and others immediately went to defend Sukarno's residence.
On 18 August 1945 the Preparatory Committee for Indonesian Independence (PPKI) appointed Sukarno as President and Mohammad Hatta as Vice President using a constitution drafted a few days earlier. Then formed the Central Indonesian National Committee (KNIP) as a temporary parliament until elections can be held. The group declared a new government on August 31 and wanted the Republic of Indonesia consisting of 8 provinces: Sumatra, Kalimantan (excluding Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei), West Java, Central Java, and Indonesia, East Java, Sulawesi, Maluku (including Papua) and Nusa Tenggara.
Independence war
From 1945 to 1949, the Australian maritime union, sympathetic to the independence effort, banned all Dutch shipping throughout the conflict so that the Dutch did not have the logistical support or supplies necessary to re-establish colonial rule.
The Dutch attempt to return to power faced strong resistance. After returning to Java, Dutch forces soon retook the colonial capital of Batavia, as a result of which the nationalists made Yogyakarta their capital. On December 27, 1949 (see article on December 27, 1949), after 4 years of war and negotiations, Queen Juliana of the Netherlands transferred sovereignty to the Indonesian Federal government. In 1950, Indonesia became the 60th member of the United Nations.
Parliamentary democracy
Not long after, Indonesia adopted a new law consisting of a parliamentary system in which its executive council is elected by and accountable to parliament or the MPR. The MPR was divided into political parties before and after the first elections in 1955, so a stable coalition of governments was difficult to achieve.
The role of Islam in Indonesia is complicated. Sukarno preferred a secular state based on the Pancasila while some Muslim groups preferred an Islamic state or a law containing a passage requiring Muslims to submit to Islamic law, it is a democracy that places the legislature higher than the executive. The head of government is headed by a Prime Minister. The prime minister and ministers in the cabinet are appointed and dismissed by parliament. In parliamentary democracy the President serves as head of state
Guided Democracy
The failed revolts in Sumatra, Sulawesi, West Java and other islands that began in 1958, plus the MPR's failure to develop a new constitution, weakened Indonesia's parliamentary system. As a result in 1959 when President Sukarno unilaterally revived the provisional 1945 constitution, which granted him great presidential powers, he did not meet many obstacles.
From 1959 to 1965, President Sukarno ruled in an authoritarian regime under the label "Guided Democracy". He also shifted Indonesia's foreign policy toward non-aligned, policies supported by important leaders of former colonies who rejected official alliances with both the Western Bloc and the Soviet Bloc. The leaders gathered in Bandung, West Java in 1955 at the Asia-Africa Summit to establish the foundation of what would become the Non-Aligned Movement.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Sukarno moved closer to the Asian communist countries and to the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) at home. The PKI was the largest communist party after the Soviet Union and China.
Indonesia—Malaysia Confrontation
Sukarno opposed the formation of the Federation of Malaysia and called it a "neo-colonial plan" to facilitate British commercial plans in the region. In addition, with the formation of the Federation of Malaysia, this is considered to expand the influence of Western imperialism in the Asian region and give a gap to the British and Australian countries to influence Asian regional politics. Responding to the UN decision to recognise Malaysia's sovereignty and make Malaysia a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, president Sukarno announced the resignation of the Indonesian state from UN membership on January 20, 1965 and established the New Power Conference (CONEFO) as a counterpoint to the United Nations and GANEFO as a counterpoint to the Olympic Games. That same year this confrontation then resulted in fighting between Indonesian and Malaysian forces (aided by the British).
The 30 September Movement
By 1965, the PKI had gained control of many of the mass organizations that Sukarno had formed to strengthen support for his regime and, with the approval of Sukarno, began a campaign to form the "Fifth Army" by arming his supporters. The military leaders are against this.
On September 30, 1965, six senior generals and several others were killed in a coup attempt blamed on palace guards loyal to the PKI. The commander of the Army Strategic Command at the time, Major General Suharto, crushed the coup and turned against the PKI. Suharto then used this situation to take power. More than tens of thousands of people accused of being communists were later killed. The number of fatalities in 1966 reached at least 500,000; the most severe occurred in Java and Bali.
The New Order Era
After Suharto became President, one of the first things he did was to register Indonesia as a UN member again. Indonesia on 19 September 1966 announced that Indonesia "intended to continue cooperation with the United Nations and to continue participation in UN activities", and became a member of the United Nations again on 28 September 1966, exactly 16 years after Indonesia was accepted for the first time.
In 1968, the MPR formally appointed Suharto to a 5-year term as president, and he was subsequently re-appointed in succession in 1973, 1978, 1983, 1988, 1993, and 1998.
President Soeharto initiated a "New Order" in Indonesian politics and dramatically changed foreign and domestic policy from the path taken by Sukarno at the end of his term. The New Order chose economic improvement and development (Pelita) as its main objective and pursued its policy through a military-dominated administrative structure but with the advice of Western-educated economists. During his reign, these policies, and the massive exploitation of natural resources resulted in huge but uneven economic growth in Indonesia. For example, the number of hungry people was greatly reduced in the 1970s and 1980s.
After rejecting UN supervision, the Indonesian government implemented the "Act of Free Choice" (Action of Free Choice) in Irian Jaya in 1969 where 1,025 representatives of Irian regional heads were selected and then given exercises in Indonesian. They eventually agreed to join Indonesia. A resolution of the UN General Assembly later confirmed the transfer of power to Indonesia. Rejection of the Indonesian government led to small-scale guerrilla activities in the years following the transfer of power. In a more open atmosphere after 1998, more explicit statements seeking independence from Indonesia have emerged.
East Timor
From 1596 to 1975, East Timor was a Portuguese colony on the island of Timor known as Portuguese Timor and separated from the northern coast of Australia by the Timor Sea. As a result of political events in Portugal, Portuguese officials abruptly withdrew from East Timor in 1975. In the local elections in 1975, Fretilin, a party led in part by Marxists, and the UDT, became the largest parties, after previously forming an alliance to campaign for independence from Portugal.
On 7 December 1975, Indonesian forces entered East Timor in a military operation called Operation Seroja. Indonesia, which has material and diplomatic support, is backed by weapons equipment provided by the United States and Australia, hoping that by having East Timor they will gain additional oil and natural gas reserves, and strategic location.
In the early days, the Indonesian military (ABRI) killed nearly 200,000 East Timorese — through murder, starvation and others. Many human rights violations occurred when East Timor was within Indonesia.
On August 30, 1999, the people of East Timor voted to secede from Indonesia in a UN vote. About 99% of the population were eligible to vote; 3/4 voted for independence. Soon after the results were announced, it was rumored that the Indonesian military continued the destruction in East Timor, such as damaging infrastructure in the area.
In October 1999, the MPR rescinded a 1976 decree integrating East Timor into Indonesian territory, and the United Nations Transitional Authority (UNTAET) took over responsibility for governing East Timor until full independence was achieved in May 2002 as the country of East Timor.
ECONOMIC CRISIS
In mid-1997, Indonesia was hit by the Asian financial and economic crisis (to be more clear see: Asian financial crisis), accompanied by the worst drought in the last 50 years and oil prices, gas and other export commodities are falling. The rupiah fell, inflation rose sharply, and capital moves accelerated. The demonstrators, initially led by students, called for Suharto's resignation. Amid widespread anger, as well as the thousands of students who occupied the DPR/MPR building, Suharto resigned on May 21, 1998, three months after the MPR appointed him for a seventh term of service. Suharto then elected the Vice President, B. J. Habibie, to become the third president of Indonesia.
Reformasi era
Habibie's Government
President Habibie soon formed a cabinet. One of its important tasks is to get back the support of the International Monetary Fund and the community of donor countries for economic recovery programs. He also freed political prisoners and reduced control on freedom of opinion and organizational activities.
Wahid's Government
Elections for the MPR, DPR, and DPRD were held on 7 June 1999. PDI Perjuangan led by Sukarno's daughter, Megawati Sukarnoputri came out as the winner in the parliamentary election by getting 34% of all votes; Golkar (the party of Soeharto - previously always the winner of previous elections) obtained 22%; Development Union Party led by Hamzah Haz 12%; National Awakening Party led by Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur) 10%. In October 1999, the MPR appointed Abdurrahman Wahid as president and Megawati as vice president for a 5-year term. Wahid formed his first cabinet, the Cabinet of National Unity in early November 1999 and reshuffled his cabinet in August 2000.
President Wahid's government continued the process of democratization and economic development under challenging circumstances. In addition to continuing economic uncertainty, his government also faces ethnic and inter-religious conflicts, especially in Aceh, Maluku and Papua. In West Timor, the problems caused by the homeless East Timorese and the chaos of pro-Indonesian East Timorese militants caused major humanitarian and social problems. The MPR, which has increasingly put pressure on President Wahid's policies, has led to an overabundance of political debate.
MEGAWATI GOVERNMENT
At the first General Assembly of the MPR in August 2000, President Wahid gave a report of accountability. On January 29, 2001, thousands of demonstrators stormed the MPR and called on the President to resign on the grounds of his involvement in a corruption scandal. Under pressure from the MPR to improve management and coordination within her administration, she circulated a presidential decree granting day-to-day state power to vice president Megawati. Megawati took over as president shortly thereafter. The cabinet during Megawati's reign was called the Gotong Royong Cabinet.
In 2002, this reign was dealt a major blow when Sipadan Island and Ligitan separated from NKRI based on the decision of the International Court of Justice.
The Yudhoyono Government
In 2004, the world's largest one-day elections were held, with Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono elected as the first president directly elected by the people, later forming the United Indonesia Cabinet. This government at the beginning of its working term has received numerous trials and great challenges, such as the major earthquakes in Aceh and Nias in December 2004 that destroyed part of Aceh and another earthquake in early 2005 that shook Sumatra.
On July 17, 2005, a historic agreement was reached between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement which aimed to end the 30-year-long conflict in the Aceh region.
