Political Career
After the proclamation, on 24 August 1945 he joined the KNI (Indonesian National Committee), becoming one of fifteen members of its Central Committee. He joined Masjumi in 1946, the Islamic political party, publishing 'Politiek dan Revolusi Kita' (Our Politics and Revolution), espousing a religious socialist philosophy, which led to his appointment as deputy minister of finance in Sjahrir's second cabinet from 12 March 1946 to 27 June 1947, Minister of Finance for Sjahrir's third cabinet from 2 October 1946 to 27 June 1947, and then as well as being Minister of Finance under Hatta's non-party cabinet and the continuation from 29 January 1948 until full independence in December 1949.
The resistance to the Dutch was limited to Java and Sumatra, and increasing military success in Java made the position of the revolutionary leaders in Java increasingly weak. In anticipation of the Dutch overrunning of the revolutionary Indonesian capital at Yogyakarta, Hatta was given authority to set up a republican government in defensible Central Sumatra. However, Hatta was to return to Java for UN-led peace talks, and so Sjafruddin was given the role of Prime Minister-in-waiting. When the Dutch captured Sukarno, Hatta, and others, he assumed the role of Emergency President, in West Sumatra, liaising by radio with remaining nationalists in Java to organise resistance to the Dutch. From this position he was able to maintain the republican effort until the Dutch released Sukarno and Hatta.
After obtaining full independence, he continued to serve as minister of finance from 1 January 1950 to 6 September 1950 and 6 September 1950 to 20 March 1951 under Natsir leadership. He was then appointed as Governor of Bank Indonesia until 1957.
Read more about this topic: Sjafruddin Prawiranegara
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