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$Unique_ID{bob00217}
$Pretitle{}
$Title{Indonesia
Chapter 4A.   Government and Politics}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Riga Adiwoso-Suprapto}
$Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army}
$Subject{government
president
courts
state
political
court
law
constitution
general
armed
see
pictures
see
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}
$Date{1982}
$Log{}
Title:       Indonesia
Book:        Indonesia, A Country Study
Author:      Riga Adiwoso-Suprapto
Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army
Date:        1982

Chapter 4A.   Government and Politics

     In 1982 President Soeharto, a retired four-star general, was completing
his sixteenth year as national leader, presiding over a political system
functioning under the 1945 Constitution. The governmental structure was
unitary in form, providing a limited separation of executive, legislative,
and judicial powers. The presidency was the central focus of government
and politics as well as the most powerful state institution, and barring
unforeseen circumstances its current incumbent appeared almost certain to
be reelected in March 1983, unopposed, to a fourth five-year term under a
mandate ending in 1988.

     The government continued to emphasize, as it had since 1966, the
compelling need for political stability, which it said was absolutely
essential to national economic development and to external and internal
security as well. Stability could be fostered in part, according to the
government, by forging a national consensus and unity under the secularist
state ideology of pancasila, a broadly phrased formulation of five principles,
accentuating belief in one God, humanitarianism, national unity, democracy,
and social justice. Pancasila has in fact been extolled as the nation's
unique ideology, which allows a place for neither communism nor capitalism
and which has inner soul and content sufficient to replace all other "isms."
In the early 1980s efforts were under way in earnest to popularize the
ideology as the only comprehensive political creed applicable to all
political groups. Any attempt to question or repudiate the validity of
pancasila was officially viewed as treasonous. The principal responsibility
for defending the integrity of the ideology, as well as the Constitution,
has been entrusted to the armed forces.

     For years the armed forces have been politically dominant, proven as
the most important and reliable institutional support for Soeharto. Their
political involvement has been extensive, buttressed by the self-imposed
mission of discharging dual functions, combining both military and
sociopolitical roles. In these two capacities armed forces personnel,
mostly from the army, have acted as bureaucrats, politicians, or
businessmen, often while in uniform. Despite the occasional discreet,
though critical, comments-usually from the opposition-about the desirability
of lowering the armed forces profile, there was little indication to
suggest any curtailment in the leverage of political power.

     The Armed Forces of the Republic of Indonesia (ABRI) as the central
reality of political life was beyond question, and barring a drastic political
reform by the Soeharto leadership or a coup by a disgruntled army faction,
their preeminence seemed irreversible for the foreseeable future at least.
The ruling political party, Golkar-a federation of groups representing
youth, labor, farmers, women, and others-was actually dominated by active
and retired officers, as were nearly all sensitive positions of public trust.
The methodical policy of depoliticization since the late 1960s has weakened
the political parties through strict controls on both dissidents and
organizational outlets. Opposition has become costly and hazardous at best,
if only because open criticism of government policy is forbidden by law.
Political participation or activity has been confined to Golkar and the two
opposition parties-the Development Unity Party (PPP), composed of various
Muslim groups, and the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), organized by
nationalist and Christian elements. The politics of opposition has become
more nominal than real because of the susceptibility of some opposition
members to government tactics of persuasion and co-optation.

     Foreign policy has been interlocked with domestic priority for
economic growth. Soeharto's Indonesia has followed a pragmatic and
responsive policy of amity and cooperation with most countries, in a sharp
turnabout from Sukarno's flamboyant style of diplomacy marked by
anti-imperialist, anticolonial, and anti-Western hyperbole. Soeharto's
special concern has been to improve ties with his Southeast Asian
neighbors who are grouped under the regional rubric of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Equally significant has been his sustained
effort to cultivate economic links with the industrially advanced Western
nations.

     Indonesia has supported the notion that Southeast Asia should be a
"zone of peace," unencumbered by the strains of major power rivalry involving
the United States, the Soviet Union, and China. In its assessment, regional
tension, whether from within or from external sources, would adversely
affect the developmental activities of Indonesia and other countries in the
region. Thus the government has usually maintained a low profile, seeking
to befriend many and antagonize none.

Constitutional Evolution

     The Constitution of 1945, still the legal basis for the state in 1982,
was initially drawn up on a temporary basis for a republican and unitary
form of government. It was framed at a time when the political situation
was highly unstable and the country was emerging as an independent nation.
The presidency was established as the central focus of power in that
Constitution. The document could not be implemented, however, because of the
four-year Indonesian struggle for full freedom and independence from the
Dutch in the 1945-49 period. After the Dutch finally agreed in November 1949
to relinquish full sovereignty to what was then called the Republic of the
United States of Indonesia (RIS), a different provisional constitution was
adopted in February 1950. That document provided for a federation of 16
equal states, RIS-made up of Java and Sumatra-being one of them (see The
Decision to Grant Independence, ch. 1). The concept of federalism was not
welcomed by the unity-conscious, militant nationalists, who denounced it
as not only a Dutch scheme to retain its influence but also an obstacle to the
development of national integration.

     Amid mounting indications of separatist sentiments in various regions in
August 1950, still another interim constitution was proclaimed, abolishing
federalism in favor of a centralized, unitary state. This was done without
strengthening the presidency, then held by Sukarno. Power was centered in a
cabinet that was answerable to a legislature, not the president. Sukarno
criticized the cabinet-centered structure as a Western invention, hardly
compatible with Indonesia's political heritage. During the 1950s, as the
country became plagued by armed rebellions and by partisan strife among
political parties and parochially oriented influence groups, Sukarno gradually
assumed an authoritarian role that went far beyond the limits of his
constitutionally sanctioned powers. His ascendancy was paralleled by the
growing role of senior army officers in the political process.

     In the mid-1950s the Sukarno regime began drafting a permanent
constitution, but the effort was stymied by disagreements among the 402
members of the constituent assembly. The assembly was unable to resolve
whether Indonesia should be secular or Islamic and whether the state should be
federal or unitary. In July 1959, under mounting pressure from the army,
Sukarno dismissed the constituent assembly and by decree reinstated the 1945
Constitution, of which he had been among the nine signers. He immediately
promised the nation that the 1945 document would make it possible for the
establishment of a constitutional order, which suited "the soul, character,
and personality of the Indonesian people."

     The short, broadly phrased document was, as events were to bear witness,
conducive to a strong presidential rule under both Sukarno and his successor,
Soeharto. A notable feature is the stipulation that the purpose and action of
the state must be in tune with the basic ideology of the nation expressly
identified as pancasila (see Pancasila, this ch.).

     The powers and functions of the principal units of government are
stipulated in the document. The powers are divided into the executive,
legislative, and judicial branches, but relationships among these units were
determined in 1982, as in 1959, more by extraconstitutional variables, such as
the personality of the president and domestic priorities, and less by the
principle of checks and balances inherent in the doctrine of separation of
powers.

     The status of the citizen in relation to the society and the state is
mentioned briefly in chapters dealing with citizenship, religion, defense,
education, and social welfare. A citizen is described as a native or
naturalized, foreign-born person. Personal freedoms and rights relating to
speech, the press, religious worship, and association is to be regulated by
law, the official position being that "freedom for freedom's sake" is a
"luxury" and that national priority for the maintenance of domestic
tranquility and the development of the economy must take precedence.

     Among obligations of the citizen is the duty to participate in the
defense of the country when called upon. Among rights of citizens are access
to education and, if destitute, to public welfare. There is a general
statement in the Constitution regarding an individual's right to private
property and other rights of an economic nature. It is stipulated that "the
economic system shall be organized as a mutual endeavor based upon the
principle of a family." The Constitution gives the state the right to control
those branches of production that are important to the nation and that affect
the lives of most people. It also grants to the state the right to control and
exploit natural resources.

     The Indonesian language is named in the Constitution as the official
language but, according to the framers of the Constitution, other languages,
such as Javanese, Sundanese and Madurese, are to be respected and protected by
the state. The final chapter of the Constitution stipulates that
constitutional changes can be effected only after deliberations in the
presence of at least two-thirds of the members of the People's Consultative
Assembly (MPR) and by a vote of a two-thirds majority of those in attendance.

Central Government

     In theory, the MPR is the highest organ of the state. In practice, the
government is centered on the office of the president, the supremacy of which
has seldom been questioned (see fig. 6).

The Presidency and the Cabinet

     The president combines roles as the head of the state, the head of the
government, and the supreme commander of the armed forces. Elected indirectly
by the MPR for an unlimited number of five-year terms, he may rule by issuing
emergency decrees in times of national crisis. These decrees, which take the
place of normal legislative acts, must be ratified by the House of People's
Representatives (DPR) in its next session. This stipulation allows the
president to have emergency decrees in force without the DPR action for as
long as one year.

     In the event of presidential disability, death, or removal, the vice
president is to succeed for the remainder of the unexpired term. The office of
the vice president was left vacant from 1956 until 1973, when it was filled by
a vote of the MPR. The vice president (Adam Malik since March 1978) is chosen
in the same way as the president.

     Among the major government units assisting the president is the Supreme
Advisory Council, which renders advisory opinions at presidential request or
on its own, though rarely exercised, initiatives concerning major national
policy. Its members (33 since August 1978) are appointed by the president for
five-year terms from among prominent national figures. The council members may
not hold another public office so as to ensure their independence, integrity,
and nonpartisanship. A secretariat and ad hoc committees are established to
facilitate the advisory function of the council.

     Of far greater importance to the president is the cabinet, a highly
influential body that meets at least once a month, attended by the president,
all heads of departments, and others of equivalent rank. Major policy matters
discussed at the cabinet session are based on consensus rather than by a
formal vote. Evidently, the cabinet meeting is also attended, depending on the
issues at hand, by "higher state functionaries," such as the attorney general,
the governor of Bank Indonesia, the deputy commander in chief of the armed
forces and concurrently head of the Operational Command for the Restoration of
Security and Order (Kopkamtib), and the head of the State Intelligence
Coordinating Agency (Bakin).

     As of late 1982 there were 17 cabinet departments. These were concerned
with agriculture; communications; defense and security; education and culture;
finance; foreign affairs; health; home affairs; industry; information;
justice; manpower and transmigration; mines and energy; public works;
religious affairs; social affairs; and trade and cooperatives. These
departmental functions were under the general supervision of three minister
coordinators, whose role was to lighten the burden of the presidential work
load. Sometimes called "overseers," they were General Maraden Panggabean-in
charge of political and security affairs; General Surono Reksodimedjo-social
welfare; and Widjojo Nitisastro-economy, finance, and industry-concurrently
chairman of the National Development Planning Council (Bappenas).

     Additionally, there were four ministers of state, responsible for
administrative reforms, research and technology, supervision of development
and the environment, and the State Secretariat, which provided both
administrative and coordinative support to the presidential office as well as
the cabinet. The secretariat was headed by Lieutenant General Soedharmono, the
presidential chief of staff since 1972 and one of the more influential
presidential confidants. These cabinet ministers were joined by six junior, or
associate, ministers in charge of food production, transmigration, housing,
cooperatives, youth affairs, and the status of women. In terms of general
background, the cabinet-level officials were drawn from three major groups:
the armed forces, the largely Western-educated economic experts, and members
of Golkar. The opposition parties were not represented.

     Apart from the cabinet, three other government bodies played a critical
role for the president and the nation. These were Bappenas, the economic brain
trust charged with economic planning, coordination, and implementation;
Kopkamtib; the powerful security agency for domestic security and
intelligence, headed by Admiral Sudomo; and Bakin, under General Yoga Sugama,
responsible for intelligence analysis and operations as well as the
coordination and supervision of various other intelligence agencies.

     As of mid-1982 the central and regional bureaucracy had a staff of 2.5
million. It was apparent that the size and scope of public administration,
including state-run enterprises, had been steadily expanding; in 1977 there
had been 1.8 million employees on the government payroll. Standardization,
efficiency, training, and discipline were matters of continuing concern to the
government, especially to the minister of state for administrative reforms,
who reported directly to the president.

     In 1982 the government was serious in its intention to stamp out
corruption and to improve the badly tarnished image of the bureaucracy. The
campaign against corruption, initiated after June 1977 under the name of
"Operation Order," was being directed by Kopkamtib. It was part of an overall
effort to foster the spirit of public service, to raise the level of required
skills, to enhance efficiency, and to encourage "zest for work." In September
1980 civil servants had been banned from doing business while in government
service, and in the following month a bill was enacted prescribing up to five
years of imprisonment and a maximum fine of Rp15 million (for value of the
rupiah-see Glossary) for convicted bribe takers. It was difficult to
ascertain in 1982, however, whether these measures had had any deterrent
effect.

Legislative Bodies

     Legislative authority is divided between the MPR and the DPR. The MPR
is empowered to determine the "guidelines of the state and the government" for
the ensuing five-year period, to elect the president and vice president, and
to draft or amend the constitution. Its actual role is more ceremonial than
substantive in that it meets only once in its five-year term, and it has no
power to initiate or decide on policies. Its public statement echoes the
position of the government. The decisions attributed to the MPR are usually
reached on the basis of consensus rather than majority vote. Under the
Soeharto leadership, the MPR nevertheless appears to take on a certain
symbolism-that of lending an appearance of legitimacy to the policies and
actions of the government.

     The MPR's membership is fixed at 920-the 460 members of the DPR plus an
equal number of members appointed by the government. As constituted in October
1977 the appointed members included 155 from the armed forces. (The armed
forces are officially recognized as a major social force, but active duty
personnel are barred from voting or from standing for elective offices.)
Appointed seats also included 52 for social groups, such as businessmen,
professionals, intellectuals, and women, and 135 for regional delegates
representing various provincial assemblies in proportion to their populations.
The remaining 118 seats were allocated among the three political organizations
in proportion to the number of seats each party won in the general elections
of May 1977: 76 for Golkar, 32 for the PPP, and 10 for the PDI.

     Normal legislative functions are the responsibility of the DPR: 360
members are directly elected, and the remainder are appointed for five-year
terms (of whom 75 are military and 25 are nominated by provincial assemblies
to speak for various functional groups). The unicameral parliament has a
speaker and five vice chairmen and is divided into 11 legislative committees.
Bills may be submitted by the cabinet or DPR members. They are deliberated in
four readings before adoption; this can be done by consensus or by majority
vote, for which a quorum of two-thirds of the total membership of the
legislature is required. A bill passed by the DPR must be sent to the
president for assent or veto. If rejected by the president, the bill may not
be submitted for a second time during the same session.

The Judiciary

     Judicial authority is vested in the Supreme Court and other, lower,
courts. There are four kinds of courts: general, religious, military, and
administrative. All courts are constitutionally mandated to carry out their
duties independent of outside influences. This was the intent of the 1970
Basic Law on Judicial Powers, enacted to enhance the status of a court system
that during the era of Guided Democracy had been subservient to Sukarno and
his executive authority (see Parliamentary and Guided Democracy, 1950-65, ch.
1). Under the 1970 law the Supreme Court-the highest court of the land-was
made independent of the Department of Justice in order to strengthen its
capacity to oversee the legal process and the integrity of all lower court
judges. Its mandated status as the constitutional guardian of justice is
circumscribed somewhat, however, by the power of discretion still retained by
the minister of justice over the lower courts with respect to appointments,
promotions, transfers, and remuneration of these judges. Additionally, the
power of judicial review granted the Supreme Court under the 1970 law does not
extend to enactments of the DPR. In other words, the Supreme Court has no
power to nullify parliamentary laws, and its review is confined to the
question of whether or not lower level administrative regulations conform to
the laws of the DPR.

     The Supreme Court is the final court of appeal in both civil and
criminal cases adjudicated by general courts, but appeal hearings before the
court may concern only the question of law and not of fact or evidence. The
verdicts of military, religious, and administrative courts may be appealed to
the Supreme Court, but as of 1982 it was unclear whether the Supreme Court
was actually in a position to carry out the appellate function. It may
exercise a first-instance jurisdiction over cases of malfeasance or crimes
involving high government officials; it also has the power to advise the
government on legal questions and to decide on jurisdictional conflicts
between lower general courts. Its chief justice (Mudjono since February 1981)
is elected by the DPR from a list of presidential nominees prepared by the
minister of justice. Associate justices are appointed by the president on
nomination by the DPR, but such nomination is actually handled jointly by the
minister of justice and the chief justice.

     Below the Supreme Court are the high courts, to be established in all
provinces, but as of 1980 there were only 16 courts sitting in as many major
cities. These courts address appeals from the district courts, which are the
lowest of the general courts. They are set up in districts and municipalities
as the courts of first instance for civil and criminal cases.

     The religious courts are supervised by the Department of Religious
Affairs, and their officers, including presiding judges, are appointed by the
department. Established in districts and municipalities side by side with the
district courts, they handle marital and inheritance cases. Their decisions,
which are based on Islamic law (sharia) must be approved by the corresponding
level district courts. There is the Islamic High Court serving the central
Java area, but elsewhere the decisions of the first-instance religious courts
are usually final.

     The armed forces have their own courts for criminal cases (see The
Administration of Criminal Justice, ch. 5). Persons suspected of involvement
in the communist coup attempt of 1965 were tried by special military courts.
Disputes involving taxation are adjudicated by the Taxation Review Board.

     In the early 1980s efforts were still under way to simplify and
standardize law and court procedures. This was necessary because the country
had inherited three kinds of law: customary law (adat), sharia, and
Dutch-imported European law. Before the intrusion of Islamic and European
influence and to a considerable degree in the early 1980s as well, adat was
the basis for maintaining harmony and stability at the village level. Highly
variable from one locality to another, the time-honored adat dealt with a
wide range of village affairs-marriage, property, inheritance, social and
personal obligations, administration of justice, and the mode of choosing
village chiefs.

     Sharia law is embraced by orthodox Muslims, especially in Java and
Sumatra, where it applies to matters of marriage and divorce and, to an
extent, reconciliation and inheritance. Even in the heavily Muslim areas,
however, adat continues to govern the everyday life of villagers, the
uncodified customary law itself being sometimes modified by Islamic
influences. The European civil and penal codes introduced in the latter
half of the eighteenth century did not supplant adat. On the contrary, they
exist side by side with both adat and sharia law, the application of the three
laws being still governed by local and ethnic considerations.

     As a rule, the European private and commercial laws in force since 1848
are applied to cases where adat is vague-for example, concerning labor
relations and contracts. Otherwise, the traditional laws continue as the
substantive civil law. The European commercial codes apply also to foreigners,
including Europeans, Japanese, Americans, Australians, and foreign Orientals
(Arabs, Indians, Pakistanis, and Chinese). There is no variation, however, in
the administration of criminal justice. The penal code is applicable uniformly
to Indonesians and foreigners.

     The traditional practice of village-level arbitration is prevalent. It
is an informal settlement handled by village headmen so as to obviate the
necessity of any time-consuming and often costly proceedings before a district
court. A notable addition since 1977 is the practice of resolving contractual
disputes of both national and international scope through a permanent body
called the Indonesian National Board of Arbitration. Established on the urging
of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the board is called on to
settle commercial, industrial, and financial disputes.