Page 182 - BUKU A CENTURY OF PARLIAMENTARY LIFE IN INDONESIA

THE NEW FACE OF INDONESIAN PARLIAMENT
(1959-1966)

leadership and the PKI, which was when the Army
was also preparing to support the political poli-
cies promulgated by President Soekarno. Political
stability during the Guided Democracy era was At the beginning of the
highly dependent on President Soekarno’s role in Guided Democracy period,
regulating the balance between the two legs of a there were several events
pyramid’s political power.
that could be used as

At the beginning of the Guided Democracy pe- an effort to balance the
riod, there were several events that could be used
as an effort to balance the three pillars of power, three pillars of power,
namely the event of the Liberation of West Irian namely the event of the
(1960) and the reaction to the formation of Malay- Liberation of West Irian
sia (1963). At the Liberation of West Irian, it was
more of a military force. Meanwhile, the anti-Ma- (1960) and the reaction to
laysian policy gained the PKI a significant role in the formation of Malaysia
mobilizing the masses to support this policy. (1963).

In the event of the Liberation of West Irian, in a
meeting on 2 April 1961, the Minister of Defense/
Chief of Staff of the Army received an order from
the President/Supreme Commander for the Joint
Chiefs of Staff (GKS) to plan a joint operation to liberate West Irian from
the Dutch. From several meetings, it was decided that there were three
options for military operations, and the pros and cons of choosing one
of the military options were assessed. The results of the study of these
three options were sent to the President/ Supreme Commander on 30
June 1960, in order to carry out Operation B (military operation) to liber-
ate West Irian.

This is an example of a study of events involving the military that was
not yet at the stage of implementing the Liberation of West Irian. The ex-
planation was an example when the military was the main political sup-
porter of President Soekarno.

Furthermore, in other political developments, namely the Nasakom (Na-
tionalism, Religion and Communism) conception, the PKI clearly had a
very important meaning for President Soekarno. PKI got access to the
first ring of the center of power, and at the same time there was an im-
pression that President Soekarno would marginalize various anti-PKI
forces. So, in short, Soekarno’s conception clearly needed the support
of several parties, including the PKI and several other Islamic parties. In

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