Page 177 - BUKU A CENTURY OF PARLIAMENTARY LIFE IN INDONESIA

A CENTURY OF PARLIAMENTARY LIFE
IN INDONESIA

In March 1960, the DPR, which since the Presidential Decree appeared to
be following President Soekarno’s policies, surprisingly rejected the Gov-
ernment’s proposed budget, in an unexpected display of power. Soekar-
no’s response to this incident was also unexpected. The state institution
which was a manifestation of democracy was immediately dissolved by
the President, who then replaced it by forming the DPR-GR (People’s
Representative Council of Mutual Assistance).

For Soekarno, this rejection meant that the DPR could no longer be in-
vited to cooperate and had to be replaced. On 5 March 1960, the Speaker
of the DPR received a letter from the President regarding the issuance of
Presidential Decree No. 3 of 1960.

What surprised the DPR was the content of the
Presidential Decree No. 3 of 1960, in which the
President made a decision that violated the con-
On 5 March 1960, the stitution to: (1) stop the implementation of the

Speaker of the DPR duties and works of members of the House of
Representatives; (2) renew the composition of
received a letter from the the DPR in a short time; (3) enact the presidential

President regarding the decree regarding the two matters above on the

issuance of Presidential very same day, which was 5 March 1960.
Decree No. 3 of 1960. The parliament which existed according to the

1950 Constitution and was composed according
to the 1955 General Election was recognized as a
Temporary House of Representatives, until a new
House of Representatives was formed based on
the 1945 Constitution. Even though the President’s actions were contrary
to the constitution and considered coup d’etat, he was justified by the
parties and the most votes in the House of Representatives. Minority
groups considered the President’s actions as a rape, but they had to ad-
just to the new reality. With such a stance, the House of Representatives
had relinquished its birthright.

The new House of Representatives had 261 members, half consisting
of party members, the other half from the so-called functional groups,
namely labors, farmers, youth, women, religious scholars, scholars, sol-
diers, and police. All members were appointed by the President. Most of
the 130 members of the political party were chosen by him from the pre-
vious members of the DPR, completely eliminating members belonging
to the opposition group.

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