Page 102 - BUKU A CENTURY OF PARLIAMENTARY LIFE IN INDONESIA

EFFORT TO REUNITE THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
(1950 – 1960)

the same resolution to leave the Pasundan State and join the Republic
of Indonesia.

APRA’s armed attack on January 23, 1950 in Bandung indirectly acceler-
ated the “unitarian” process. By March 1950, only four states remained:
the Republic of Indonesia, West Kalimantan, East
Sumatra, and East Indonesia. Although not dis-
banded, West Kalimantan was in crisis because
Sultan Hamid as Head of State—also serving as
Minister of State in the RIS Cabinet—was involved
in the APRA-Westerling incident. Then the State The RIS Senate
of East Indonesia also faced a problem with the formed a committee
separatist movement of the Republic of South
Maluku (RMS), proclaimed by Dr. Soumokil. to draft the Unitary
State Constitution.
Meanwhile, the People’s Consultative Assembly
throughout East Sumatra demanded the continu- Then, on May 22,
ation of RIS and that the State of East Sumatra 1950, the Senate
(NST) remained a part of it. However, the People’s
Congress demanded the opposite: to disband the proposed the
NST. The social revolution heavily influenced the Committee’s
opposing ideologies in the early years of Indone- Constitution draft to
sia’s independence.
the government.

To accommodate the efforts to merge the states
into the Republic of Indonesia and the plans to re-
establish a unitary state, the RIS Senate formed a
committee to draft the Unitary State Constitution.
Then, on May 22, 1950, the Senate proposed the
Committee’s Constitution draft to the government.

Aside from the Republic of Indonesia, only East Sumatra and East In-
donesia remained as states. Therefore, the Government of the Republic
of Indonesia recommended for the RIS Government to negotiate with
the two states regarding the formation of a unitary state. The govern-
ment received the recommendations well and went on to approach the
governments of the two states. As a result, the two state governments
authorized the RIS government to negotiate with the government of the
Republic of Indonesia.

Meanwhile, two motions regarding forming a unitary state flourished
in the RIS parliament. The first motion came from Soesanto Tirtoprodjo

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