Communist Party of Indonesia - 1960s

1960s

Although PKI supported Sukarno, it did not lose its political autonomy. In March 1960 the PKI denounced the undemocratic handling of the budget by Sukarno. On 8 July Harian Rakyat carried an article critical of the government. The PKI leadership was arrested by the army, but later released on orders of Sukarno.

When idea of Malaysia was conceived, it was rejected by the PKI as well as the Communist Party of Malaya.

With growing popular support and a membership of about 3 million by 1965, the PKI was the strongest communist party outside the Soviet Union and China. The party had a firm base in various mass organizations, such as the All-Indonesian Central Labour Organisation (Sentral Organisasi Buruh Seluruh Indonesia), People's Youth (Pemuda Rakjat), Indonesian Women's Movement (Gerakan Wanita Indonesia), Peasants Front of Indonesia (Barisan Tani Indonesia), the Institute of People's Culture (Lembaga Kebudayaan Rakjat) and the Association of Scholars of Indonesia (Himpunan Sardjana Indonesia). Estimates claim that the total membership of the party and its frontal organizations might have at its peak organized a fifth of the Indonesian population.

In March 1962 PKI joined the government. PKI leaders Aidit and Njoto were named advisory ministers. In April PKI held its party congress. In 1963 the governments of Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines engaged in discussions on territorial disputes and the possibility of a Maphilindo Confederation, an idea launched by the Philippine president Diosdado Macapagal. The PKI rejected the ideas of Maphilindo and Malaysian federation. PKI militants crossed over into Malaysia and engaged in combat against British and Australian forces there. Some groups reached Malaya, to join the struggle there. However, most of them were captured on arrival. Most of the PKI combat units were active in border regions of Borneo.

In January 1964 PKI started confiscating British properties owned by British companies in Indonesia.

In the mid 1960s the U.S. State Department estimated the party membership to be approximately 2 million (3.8% of the working age population of the country).