Page 111 - BUKU A CENTURY OF PARLIAMENTARY LIFE IN INDONESIA

A CENTURY OF PARLIAMENTARY LIFE
IN INDONESIA

As Natsir said, a zaken cabinet would be formed
if the PNI decided not to join his cabinet. Ne-
gotiations for positions in the cabinet between
The chair of the DPRS Natsir and the PNI were tough. It was difficult

from PNI, Mr. Sartono, for both parties to find an agreement regarding
the position of the representatives of each party.
advised Natsir to Natsir, appointed by Sukarno to form the cabinet,

always negotiate with wanted Masyumi to have more seats than other
parties.
the parliamentary
deliberative committee After all, Masyumi was the most prominent force
in the DPRS. Natsir wanted Masyumi to get six
consisting of 18 cabinet seats, including the Minister of Home Af-

members from all fairs and the Minister of Teaching. PNI also re-
quested two posts. Natsir’s difficulty in lobbying
factions in parliament the PNI resulted in him returning the mandate to

on all matters. form a cabinet to Soekarno twice, but this was
rejected. Natsir said that Soekarno wanted him
to create a cabinet that was not too reliant on the
parties’ interests.

On 7 September 1950, the Natsir Cabinet was of-
ficially formed with 18 members. With the cabinet’s composition, Nat-
sir formed a coalition with 52% of DPRS members. Meanwhile, the PNI,
which officially became the opposition in parliament along with the PKI
and the Murba Party, emphasized that it would continuously monitor the
cabinet’s programs. However, at the beginning of the cabinet’s formation,
PNI was cautious in taking a stance as an opposition.

Without PNI in Natsir’s cabinet, the government faced difficulty running
its programs. Immediately after the cabinet formation, Natsir received
much criticism for prioritizing the formation of a zaken cabinet rather than
arranging a cabinet consisting of political parties that could strengthen
the cabinet.

The chair of the DPRS from PNI, Mr. Sartono, advised Natsir to always
negotiate with the parliamentary deliberative committee consisting of 18
members from all factions in parliament on all matters. This was so that
the cabinet’s programs could run smoothly and not be rejected by the
parliament.

104