Page 146 - BUKU A CENTURY OF PARLIAMENTARY LIFE IN INDONESIA

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

THE 1959 PRESIDENTIAL DECREE

President Soekarno inaugurated the Gotong Royong DPR (DPR-GR), whose mem-

bers were appointed and inducted personally by him. This event also marked

the end of the Parliamentary Democracy period.

SINCE being introduced by Soekarno in 1956, the idea of Guided Demo-
cracy slowly spread. Soekarno began to openly express his thoughts on
Guided Democracy through speeches on the 1956 Youth Pledge Day and
the 1956 PGRI Congress Reception. His speech emphasized Indonesia’s
unity crisis due to a disease he said came from political parties.

The government had been on the journey to uphold the idea of Guided
Democracy since the Karya Cabinet period led by Djuanda. The cabi-
net was formed due to the emergence of the Presidential Conception on
February 21, 1957. Apart from creating the Karya Cabinet, the Presiden-
tial Conception also gave rise to the National Council, which President
Soekarno inaugurated on July 12, 1957. The National Council was meant
to serve as an advisory body and accommodate inputs from outside the
parliament.

In its journey, the National Council, led directly by Soekarno, moved
quickly to replace the Parliamentary Democracy, practiced under the 1950
Constitution, with a new system. According to him, the Parliamentary
Democracy system was not suitable for Indonesia’s identity. Soekarno
also saw that through the new system, the opposition in the DPR could
no longer overthrow the Government.

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