Masyumi Party - History

History

Masyumi was the name given to an organization established by the occupying Japanese in 1943 in an attempt to control Islam in Indonesia. Following the Indonesian Declaration of Independence, on 7 November 1945 a new organization called Masyumi was formed. In less than a year it became the largest political party in Indonesia. It included the Islamic organizations such as Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah. During the period of liberal democracy era, Masyumi members had seats in the People's Representative Council and the party supplied prime ministers such as Muhammad Natsir and Burhanuddin Harahap.

Masyumi came second in the 1955 election. It won 7,903,886 votes, representing 20.9% of the popular vote, resulting in 57 seats in parliament. Masyumi was popular in modernist Islamic regions such as West Sumatra, Jakarta, and Aceh. 51.3% of Masyumi's vote came from Java, but Masyumi was the dominant party for regions outside Java, and it established itself as the leading party for the one third of people living outside Java. In Sumatra, Kalimantan, and Sulawesi, Masyumi gained a significant share of the vote. In Sumatra, 42.8% voted for Masyumi. while the figure for Kalimantan was 32%, and for Sulawesi 33.9%.

In 1958, some Masyumi members joined the PRRI rebellion against Sukarno. As a result, in 1960 Masyumi (and the Socialist Party) were banned.

Following the banning, Masyumi members and followers established the Crescent Star Family (Indonesian: Keluarga Bulan Bintang) to campaign for Islamic shariah law and teachings. An attempt was made to reestablish the party following the transition to the New Order, but this was not permitted. After the fall of Suharto in 1998, another attempt was made to revive the party name, but eventually Masyumi followers and others established the Crescent Star Party, which contested the legislative elections in 1999, 2004 and 2009.