Sukarno

Sukarno (June 6, 1901 - June 21, 1970) was the first President of Indonesia. He helped the country win its independence from the Netherlands and was President from 1945-1967, presiding over mixed success in the country's turbulent transition to independence. Sukarno was forced from power by one of his Generals, Suharto, who was granted the formal title of President in March 1967. Sukarno is also referred to as Ahmed Sukarno or Soekarno. Indonesians also refer to him as Bung Karno

Table of contents

1 Background 2 Independence Struggle 3 WWII - Japanese Occupation 4 Early Independence, the Panca Sila 5 'Guided Democracy', and Increasing Autocracy 6 Removal from Power 7 Quote 8 See also 9 References

Background

\nThe son of a Javanesenese nobleman and his Balinese wife from Buleleng regency, Sukarno was born in Surabaya (although several sources said he was born in Blitar, East Java) in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). He was admitted into a Dutch-run school as a child. When his father sent him to Surabaya in 1916 to attend a secondary school, he met Tjokroaminoto, a future nationalist. 1921 he begun to study at the Technische Hoogeschool in Bandung. Sukarno was fluent in several languages, especially Dutch. He once remarked that when he was studying in Surabaya, he often sat behind the screen in movie theaters reading the Dutch subtitles in reverse, because he could not afford the regular front seating's price.

Independence Struggle

\nSukarno became a leader of a Indonesian independence movement party, Partai Nasional Indonesia when it was founded in 1927. He was arrested in 1929 by Dutch colonial authorities and sentenced for two years in prison. By the time he was released, he had become a popular hero. In the 1930s he was again arrested several times.

WWII - Japanese Occupation

\nDuring the World War II, Sukarno co-operated with Japanese occupation forces but also continued to agitate for Indonesian independence. He accepted the role of a Indonesian head of state under Japanese military supervision in July 1942 and in 1943 became the head of Putera, a political auxiliary organization. \nHe also became head of Badan Penyelidik Usaha Persiapan Kemerdekaan Indonesia (BPUPKI), a Japanese-organized committee for Indonesian independence

Early Independence, the Panca Sila

\nAfter the Japanese defeat, Sukarno and Mohammed Hatta declared the Republic of Indonesia in August 17, 1945. Sukarno's vision for the 1945 Indonesian constitution comprised the Panca Sila. (Sanskrit - five pillars). Sukarno's political philosophy was guided by (in no particular order) elements of Marxism, Democracy and Islam. This is reflected in the Panca Sila, in the order in which he originally espoused them in a speech on June 1, 1945¹:

1. Nationalism (national unity, not ultranationalist supremacy)\n#Internationalism (one nation sovereign amongst equals)\n#Representative Democracy (all significant groups represented)\n#Social Justice (informed by Marxist philosophy)\n#Belief in God (however state remained secular)

The Indonesian parliament, founded on the basis of this original (and subsequent revised) constitutions, proved all but ungovernable. This was due to irreconcilable differences between varios social, political, religious and ethnic factions². In the ensuing chaos between various factions and Dutch attempts to re-establish colonial control, Dutch troops captured Sukarno in December 1948, but were forced to release him after the ceasefire. He returned to Jakarta in December 28 1949. There were further attempts of military coups against Sukarno in 1956. In an effort to restore order, Sukarno established what he called guided democracy, in which he wielded progressively more executive powers, whilst maintaining a multiparty parliament. \n

'Guided Democracy', and Increasing Autocracy

\nDuring this later part of his presidency, Sukarno came to increasingly rely on the army and the support of the PKI - the Communist Party of Indonesia. On November 30, 1957, there was a grenade attack against Sukarno when he was visiting a school in Jakarta. Six children were killed but Sukarno did not suffer any serious wounds. In December he ordered nationalization of 246 Dutch businesses. In February he began a breakdown of PRRI (Pemerintah Revolusioner Republik Indonesia) rebels at Bukittingi. Over the following years he established government control over media and book publishing and purge against Ethnic Chinese residents. In July 5 1959 he reestablished 1945 constitution, dissolved the parliament, molded it to his liking and assumed full personal power as a prime minister. He called the system as government-by-decree Manifesto Politik or Manipol. He sent his opponents to internal exile. In the 1950s he increased his ties to Communist China and admitted more Communists to his government. Thus he also received Soviet military aid. In 1962 Sukarno ordered raids to West Irian (Dutch New Guinea). There were more assassination attempts when he visited Sulawesi in 1962. West Irian was brought under Indonesian authority in May 1963 under the Bunker Plan. In the same year in July Sukarno had himself proclaimed President for Life. Sukarno also opposed the British-supported Federation of Malaysia, claiming that it was a "neo-colonial plot" to advance British interests. In spite of his political overtures, Malaysia was proclaimed in September 1963. This led to Indonesian Confrontation and the end of remaining US military aid to Indonesia. Sukarno withdrew Indonesia from the UN Security Council in 1965 and Malaysia took the seat. Sukarno also became increasingly ill and collapsed in public in August 9, 1965. He was secretly diagnosed with a kidney disease.

Removal from Power

\nOn the morning of October 1, 1965, some of Sukarno's closest guards kidnapped and murdered six anti-communist generals. One survivor, who was not targetted in the suspected coup attempt, was Lieutenant-General Suharto. This crisis sparked a crackdown on the communist party and a nation-wide purge of suspected communists (mostly peasants). The murders were concentrated in Sumatra, East Java and Bali. By the time they petered out in 1966, an estimated half a million Indonesians have been slaughtered by soldiers, police and pro-Suharto vigilantes. Ethnic Chinese were also targetted, primarily for economic and racial reasons. An official CIA report called the purge "one of the worst mass murders of the 20th century."² Sukarno's grip on power was weakened in the crisis, and eventually, pro-American Lieutenant-General Suharto forced Sukarno to hand over executive powerss on March 11, 1966. There is much speculation about who triggered the crisis that led to Sukarno's removal from power. While the official version claims the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) ordered the murders of the six generals, others say Sukarno himself, and some think Suharto orchestrated the assassinations to remove potential rivals for the presidency³. There are also claims that Sukarno was toppled by the United States because of his nationalism and policy of non-alignment. Sukarno was stripped of his presidential title by Indonesia's provisional parliament on March 12, 1967 and he remained under house arrest until his death at age 69 in Jakarta in 1970. Megawati Sukarnoputri, the current Indonesian president, is his daughter. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

\nPresidents of Indonesia
\nPreceded by: \n(first President) \n(N/A)\n	\nSukarno \n(1945 - 1967)\n	\nFollowed by: \nSuharto \n(1967 - 1998)\n
\nPolitics of Indonesia\n

Quote

\nTo the US ambassador: "Go to hell with your aid!"

See also

\n* History of Indonesia

References

\n#Smith, Roger M (ed). Southeast Asia. Documents of Political Development and Change, Ithaca and London, 1974, pp. 174-183.\n#U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, Research Study: Indonesia -- The Coup that Backfired, 1968, p. 71n.\n#Robert Cribb, ‘Nation: Making Indonesia’, in Donald K. Emmerson (ed.), Indonesia Beyond Suharto: Polity, Economy, Society, Transition. Armonk, New York: M.E. Sharpe, 1999, pp.3-38 \n