Page 43 - BUKU A CENTURY OF PARLIAMENTARY LIFE IN INDONESIA

A CENTURY OF PARLIAMENTARY LIFE
IN INDONESIA

Thamrin and R.A.A. Kusumo Comite voor de Inlandsche Meerderheid in de Volksraad (Committee for
Utoyo visit Medan on May 1930, in
connection with National Fonds. the Indigenous Majority in the Volksraad). Thamrin believed that the
“indigenous majority” proposal in the Volksraad was formulated hastily.
(Source: https://niadilova.wordpress.
com; cited from Pandji Pustaka, No. When the socialist members agreed to the proposal, Thamrin disagreed.
3, 30 May 1930, page 685)
At that time, the Council was very small. For example, in 1924, there were
roughly 700 elected members on Java, among them only 169 were in-
digenous. Of the 169, about 70 were priyayi, such as regents, while the
rest were civil servants. Pressure from the priyayi over the indigenous
group’s selection process was strong and unavoidable. Most indigenous
members of the Volksraad were either officials or moderate nationalists,
like Thamrin et al.

In the second, third, and fourth session—held between 1921–1931— the
PEB was a dominant indigenous group. Meanwhile, in the fifth Volksraad
session between 1931–1935, an association consisting of indigenous of-
ficials dominated the council.

In the Volksraad, the indigenous faction gave its best effort to keep its best
representatives in office so they could continue to voice issues regard-
ing the people of the Dutch East Indies. Indigenous representatives in

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