Republic of Indonesia

J

Communications

In 1997 more than 4.9 million telephones were in use in Indonesia. Radio Republik Indonesia, the state-owned system, operates 49 stations serving approximately 32 million receivers; there are also many hundreds of commercial radio stations. The government-controlled television broadcasting system, Televisi Republik Indonesia, which began operations in 1962, reaches some 32 million receivers, including around 55,000 publicly financed village television sets. Private commercial television broadcasting began in 1989; by the early 2000s there were five commercial stations. The most important of Indonesia’s estimated 863 daily newspapers are published in Jakarta. Average circulation of the dailies is around 5 million. The papers with the largest circulations include Kompas, Pos Kota, and Berita Buana.

V

Government

Indonesia is a constitutional republic. It proclaimed its independence from the Netherlands in 1945, and in 1949 the Netherlands recognized the sovereign Republic of the United States of Indonesia. The following year Indonesia’s federal system was abolished, and the country became a unitary republic.

Three provisional constitutions defined the form of Indonesia’s government. The first one was proclaimed in 1945; the second one was issued in February 1950; and the third one was passed by the provisional House of Representatives in August 1950. In 1959 the constitution of 1945 was reinstated by presidential decree.

Indonesia’s fragmented physical nature, its size, and ethnic diversity have made the creation and maintenance of national unity a government priority. To this end, the constitution establishes the concept of Pancasila, or the “Five Principles”, as Indonesia’s governing philosophy. The five principles, or sila, are: belief in one supreme God; just and civilized humanity; the unity of Indonesia; democracy, guided by the wisdom of unanimity rising from discussion (musjawarah) among elected representatives and mutual assistance (gotong royong); and social justice for all citizens, including equality of political rights and of citizenship, as well as social and cultural equality. Since 1985 all social and political organizations have been required to adopt the Pancasila principles as their basic platform.

A

Executive and Legislature

Under the 1945 constitution the chief executive of Indonesia is a president, elected to a five-year term by the People’s Consultative Assembly, or Majellis Permusyawaratan Rakyat (MPR), which includes the parliament and is Indonesia’s highest state authority, according to the constitution. The president, who may serve any number of terms, has very wide powers and can govern by decree. The president can appoint members of the MPR, and appoints and presides over a Cabinet of ministers. Indonesia has had six presidents since independence—President Sukarno from 1945 until 1968; President Suharto from 1968 to 1998; Jusuf Habibie, the first-ever civilian president, from 1998 to 1999; President Abdurrahman Wahid (1999-2001); President Megawati Sukarnoputri, daughter of Sukarno (2001-2004); and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (2004- ), the first president chosen by direct elections.

Legislative power in Indonesia is vested in the House of Representatives, the Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat (DPR), which must approve all statutes and has the right to submit draft bills for ratification by the president. The DPR is made up of 500 members, with 462 elected every five years by proportional representation and 38 members chosen to represent the army. The MPR is composed of all the members of the DPR plus 500 representatives of functional groups (such as farmers, the armed forces, business people, intellectuals, workers, students, and women) and the country’s regions. The main functions of the MPR are to elect the president and vice-president, and to determine the constitution and the broad lines of state and government policy. The constitution requires that the MPR meets at least every five years and that the DPR convenes once a year. The MPR operates by consensus, not voting along party or factional lines. Under the constitution it is the embodiment of the ancient Indonesian, and especially Javanese, traditions of musajawarah (discussion) and musfakat (agreement)—whereby personal, political, and policy differences are resolved by extended debate resulting in a unanimous decision.

B

Political Parties

Between Indonesia’s first general election in 1955, and its second, in 1971, party politics in Indonesia were suspended and replaced by President Sukarno’s concept of “Guided Democracy”. Since the return of party politics, Indonesian political life has been dominated by Sekber Golkar, or the Joint Secretariat of Functional Groups. Founded in 1964 and in power since 1971, Golkar is not a political party in the traditional sense. Rather it is an alliance representing various interest groups, including the armed forces, farmers, fishers, the professions, and women. Since the 1970s the armed forces have been the dominant functional group within Golkar.

In 1972 nine small political parties amalgamated to form two parties—the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), formed by the merger of five nationalist and Christian parties; and the United Development Party (PPP), a merger of four Islamic parties. Since 1973 the PDI and PPP have been the only legal opposition parties; in practice they operate as junior “partners of government”, in line with the tradition of consensus. In 1991 following popular demands for more openness, the Democratic Forum and the League for Restoration of Democracy were formed to promote freedom of expression.

As part of the concern to maintain national unity, the law requires that the membership of a political party must cover at least 25 per cent of Indonesia. However, the historical domination of Java within Indonesia has tended to carry through into contemporary politics; Javanese have been particularly prominent in the leadership of Golkar. Opposition to the domination of Java, to the centralist policies that have been a result of the preoccupation with national unity, and to the transmigration programme has led to the development of three political groups in conflict with the government. On New Guinea, the nationalist Free Papua Movement (OPM) has sought unification with Papua New Guinea since Papua was made part of Indonesia in 1969.

C

Judiciary

Civil and criminal cases are tried by district courts situated throughout Indonesia. Appeals are heard by high courts located in 14 major cities; the final court of appeal is the Supreme Court in Jakarta. One codified criminal law applies to all Indonesia. In civil cases, however, Indonesians are tried under the uncodified customary law (Adat law). Muslims can choose to appear before a Shari'ah or secular court; westerners and Asians of foreign origin or ancestry are held to a system based on continental European civil codes.