Transition To The New Order - Political Maneuvering

Political Maneuvering

On 27 March, the new cabinet lineup, agreed between Suharto and Sukarno, was announced. It included the key figures of Suharto himself as interim deputy prime minister for security and defense affairs, tasked with preventing the resurgence of communism, the Sultan of Yogyakarta Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX as deputy prime minister for economic, financial and development affairs, tasked with solving the nation's economic problems and Adam Malik as deputy prime minister for social and political affairs, whose job it would be to manage foreign policy.

On 24 April 1966, Suharto gave a speech to members of the Indonesian National Party in which he spoke of the "three deviations" that would have to be corrected by the youth of the country in cooperation with the Armed Forces. These were:

• The extreme-left radicalism of the PKI and its efforts to impose a class struggle on the Indonesian people;
• Political opportunism motivated by personal gain led and exploited by the "puppetmasters" of the Indonesian Central Intelligence Board (BPI), at the time led by Sukarno ally Subandrio;
• Economic adventurism, resulting in the deliberate creation of economic chaos.

The new regime turned away from China and began moves to end the Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation, in defiance of Sukarno's wishes.

Meanwhile, Suharto and his allies continued to purge state institutions of Sukarno loyalists. The Tjakrabirawa palace guard was disbanded, and following further student demonstrations in front of the legislature building on 2 May, the leadership of the Mutual Cooperation House of Representatives (DPR-GR) was replaced and Sukarnoist and pro-communist members were suspended from the DPR-GR and the Provisional People's Consultative Assembly (MPRS), the supreme lawmaking body. Pro-Suharto replacements were appointed.

A session of the MPRS was scheduled to open 12 May, but eventually began on 20 June and continued until 5 July. One of its first actions was to appoint General Nasution as chairman. It then set about dismantling the apparatus Sukarno had built around himself. It passed several decrees, one of which was the ratification of the Supersemar, thus making revocation of it almost impossible. It also ratified the banning of the PKI and the teaching of Marxist ideology, instructed Suharto to form a new cabinet, called on Sukarno to provide an explanation for the economic and political situation in the nation and stripped him of the title "president for life". It also passed a decree stating that if the president was unable to carry out his duties, the holder of the Supersemar would assume the presidency.

The new cabinet, announced by Sukarno on 20 June, was led by a five-man presidium headed by Suharto, and including Malik and Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX. It saw the dismissal of more Sukarno loyalists.

On 11 August, a peace treaty was signed, formerly ending the Konfrontasi. Indonesian announced it would rejoin the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the United Nations. It released political prisoners and paid compensation to the British and American governments for the damage caused to their diplomatic buildings during the demonstrations of the Sukarno era.

On 17 August, in his annual independence day speech, Sukarno claimed that Indonesia was not about to recognize Malaysia nor rejoin the UN. He also stated that he had not transferred power to Suharto. This provoked an angry reaction in the form of demonstrations, and Indonesian did indeed rejoin the UN in September, participating in the General Assembly on 28 September. Meanwhile, criticism from demonstrators became increasingly vociferous and personal, and there were calls for him to be out on trial.

On 10 January 1967, Sukarno wrote to the MPRS, enclosing a document known as Nawaksara giving his version of the events surrounding the 30 September Movement. In it, he said the kidnappings and murders of the generals had been a "complete surprise" to him, and that he alone was not responsible for the nation's moral and economic problems. This led to demonstrators calling for Sukarno to be hanged.

The MPRS leadership met on 21 January and concluded that Sukarno had failed to fulfill his constitutional obligations. In a resolution passed on 9 February, the DPR-GR rejected the Nawaksara and asked the MPRS to convene a special session.

On 12 March 1967, the special session began. After heated debates, it agreed to strip Sukarno of his power. On 12 March, Suharto was appointed acting president. Sukarno went into de facto house arrest in Bogor. A year later, on 27 March 1968, another session of the MPRS appointed Suharto the second president of Indonesia.

General Nasution was believed to have launched his own bid for power on December 16, 1965, when he won appointment to the Supreme Operations Command, and gained a grip over the traditionally civilian-held portion of the military hierarchy. It was reported that Nasution would have preferred forming a military junta to replace Sukarno. (New York Times, December 16, 1965.)