Guided Democracy in Indonesia
Guided Democracy, also called the Old Order, was the political system in place in Indonesia from 1959 until the New Order began in 1966. This period followed the dissolution of the liberal democracy period in Indonesia by President Sukarno, who centralized control in the name of political stability. He claimed to have based the system on the traditional village system of protracted discussion and consensus, which occurred under the guidance of village elders. He envisioned himself as president playing the role of the village elders at the national level, arguing that a national consensus could express itself under presidential guidance.
In practice, however, this meant centralized rule under Sukarno: martial law, a massive reduction in civil liberties and democratic norms, and the Republic of Indonesia Armed Forces and Communist Party of Indonesia acting as major power blocs.
Sukarno proposed a threefold blend of nationalism, religion, and communism into a co-operative Nasakom or Nas-A-Kom governmental concept. This was intended to satisfy the four main factions in Indonesian politics—the army, the secular nationalists, Islamic groups, and the communists. With the support of the military, he proclaimed Guided Democracy in 1959 and proposed a cabinet representing all major political parties including the Communist Party of Indonesia, although the latter were never actually given functional cabinet positions.
Background
The liberal democracy period in Indonesia, from the re-establishment of a unitary republic in 1950 until the declaration of martial law in 1957, saw the rise and fall of six cabinets, the longest-lasting surviving for less than two years. Even Indonesia's first national elections in 1955 failed to bring about political stability.In 1957, Indonesia faced a series of crises, including the beginning of the Permesta rebellion in Makassar and the army takeover of authority in South Sumatra, due to the increasing dissatisfaction of non-Javanese Indonesians to the centralization policy implemented by Jakarta. One of the demands of the Permesta rebels was that 70 percent of the members of Sukarno's proposed National Council should be members from the regions. Another demand was that the cabinet and National Council be led by the dual-leaders of Sukarno and former Vice-President Hatta.
In March 1957, Sukarno accepted the Army chief of staff General Abdul Haris Nasution's proposal for a declaration of martial law across the whole nation. This would put the armed forces in charge, and would be a way to deal with the rebellious army commanders, as it would effectively legitimise them.
In the face of a growing political crisis amid splits in the cabinet, Prime Minister Ali Sastroamidjojo resigned on 14 March from his position in Sukarno's presence.
Establishment of Guided Democracy
President Sukarno made an official visit to the People's Republic of China in October 1956. He was impressed with the progress made there since the Civil War, and concluded that this was due to the strong leadership of Mao Zedong, whose centralisation of power was in sharp contrast to the political disorder in Indonesia. According to former foreign minister Ide Anak Agung Gde Agung, Sukarno began to believe he had been "chosen by providence" to lead the people and "build a new society".Shortly after his return from China, on 30 October 1956, Sukarno spoke of his konsepsi of a new system of government. Two days earlier he had called for the political parties to be abolished. Initially the parties were opposed to the idea, but once it became clear that they would not need to be abolished, the Indonesian Communist Party threw its support behind Sukarno. As well as the PKI, the Indonesian National Party supported Sukarno, while the Islamist Masyumi Party and the Socialist Party of Indonesia opposed the plan. There were public demonstrations in support of it.
On 21 February 1957, Sukarno detailed his plan. Sukarno pointed out that at the village level, important questions were decided by lengthy deliberation with the goal of achieving a consensus. This model of decision-making, he said, was better suited to the nature of Indonesia than Western-style democracy. While deliberations at the local level were guided by the village elders, Sukarno envisioned that the president would guide them at the national level. The centerpiece would be a 'mutual co-operation' cabinet of the major parties advised by a National Council of functional groups, while the legislature would not be abolished. Sukarno argued that under this system, a national consensus could express itself under presidential guidance.
On 15 March 1957 President Sukarno appointed PNI chairman Soewirjo to form a "working cabinet", which would be tasked with establishing the National Council in accordance with the president's concept. However, since Masyumi, the largest opposition party, was not asked to participate in the formation of the cabinet, Soewirjo's efforts came to nothing. However, on 25 March, Sukarno asked Soewirjo to try form a cabinet again in one week to, but to no avail, Soewirjo failed.
Finally, Sukarno held a meeting with 69 party figures at the State Palace on 4 April 1957, at which he announced his intention to form an emergency extra-parliamentary working cabinet, whose members Sukarno would choose. The new "Working Cabinet", headed by non-partisan prime minister Djuanda Kartawidjaja was announced on 8 April 1957 at Bogor Palace. Although the PKI was not included, several members were sympathetic to the party and two Masyumi party members who accepted cabinet posts were expelled from the former. In theory, it was a non-partisan cabinet.
The National Council was established by emergency law in May 1957. It was chaired by Sukarno, with Ruslan Abdulgani as vice-chairman. At its inauguration on 12 July, it had 42 members representing groups such as peasants, workers and women, as well as the various religions. Decisions were reached by consensus rather than through voting. As a non-political body based on functional groups, it was intended as a counterbalance to the political system. The cabinet was not obliged to heed the advice given by the National Council, but in practice they rarely ignored recommendations and proposals it set.
Meanwhile, the National Armed Forces, especially the Army, was already trying to enhance their political role by establishing functional groups of their own with efforts by the officer corps. Nasution began trying to woo the parties' functional groups in June 1957, and managed to unite the many veterans' organizations under armed forces control as the Veterans' Legion of Indonesia, a singular organization dedicated to veterans' affairs. He also used martial law to arrest several politicians for alleged corruption, while regional army commanders restricted party activities, particularly those of the PKI, whose headquarters in Jakarta was attacked in July.
Manipol/USDEK
In an attempt to unify the polarization of politics in Indonesia, Sukarno created a manifesto, Manipol/USDEK, that was mandated to be taught in schools during the Guided Democracy Era. In his Independence Day address on 17 August 1957, Sukarno laid down the ideology of guided democracy, later renamed the Manipol. This was later expanded into the ideology known as USDEK - combined into Manipol USDEK. The five points of this ideology were the following:- the 1945 Constitution
- Indonesian-styled socialism
- Guided democracy
- Guided economic policies
- Indonesian identity
Regional rebellions during the liberal democracy era
In the midst of the Cold War, the CIA—along with the UK and Australian governments—supported rebellions in Sumatra and Sulawesi during 1958. These rebellions were launched as reactions to Sukarno's seizure of parliamentarian power, the increasing influence of the Communists, the corruption and mismanagement of the central government, and against the domination by Java of the outer islands.In September and October 1957, various rebellious army officers, including members of the Permesta movement, held meetings in Sumatra. They agreed on three objectives: the appointment of a president less in favor of the PKI, the replacement of Nasution as the head of armed forces and the banning of the PKI. Some of these regional rebels were subsequently accused of involvement in the assassination attempt on Sukarno on 30 November. On 10 February 1958, rebels including army officers and Masyumi leaders meeting in Padang, Sumatra, issued an ultimatum to the government demanding the return of parliamentary system, through the dissolution of the cabinet, elections and Sukarno's position as a figurehead role. Five days later, the formation of Revolutionary Government of the Republic of Indonesia, announced. It was based in Bukittinggi, Sumatra, joined two days later by the Permesta rebels in Sulawesi.
Despite US support in the form of arms for the PRRI rebels, the Indonesian military defeated the rebels with a combination of aerial bombardment and operations by troops landed from Java. By the middle of 1958, the rebellions had been effectively quashed but guerrilla activity persisted for three years. Amnesty was granted to rebel leaders although their political parties were banned. Early nationalist leaders were discredited, including former Prime Minister Sutan Sjahrir, who along with others was arrested in 1962.