Page 45 - BUKU A CENTURY OF PARLIAMENTARY LIFE IN INDONESIA

A CENTURY OF PARLIAMENTARY LIFE
IN INDONESIA

A year later, in July 1932, M. H. Thamrin, who was re-elected as chairman
of the National Faction, announced in the Volksraad that there had been
a small change in the faction’s objective, namely “expeditious Indonesian
independence” .

In 1935, the Dutch East Indies Colonial Government appointed a Dutch
woman named Razoux Schultz-Metzer to be a member of the Volksraad.
Two years later, Thamrin proposed universal women’s suffrage.

At that time, the Volksraad membership was composed of various groups.
The majority was Dutch and the rest included indigenous people (In-
donesia), Orientals (Arabs and Chinese), and Dutch-Indonesian mixed
heritage, who later formed their own faction. The presence of Razoux
Schultz-Metzer was a distinguishing factor of this period’s Volksraad.
Then, Thamrin was in favor of having indigenous women occupy seats
at the Volksraad.

On 16 September 1928, Cipto was appointed by the Volksraad election
office to occupy the seat vacated by a member of the Pasundan Pa-
guyuban, Oto Kusuma Subrata. With Cipto sitting in the Volksraad, opin-
ions that were largely represented by the conservative group, namely the
civil servants and BB (binnen lands bestuur) officials, could now be coun-
tered by a veteran nationalist who was very familiar with the respective
region’s situation and issues.

After the “indigenous majority” proposal had been won and after what
Stokvis referred to as De Graeff’s predicament, the National Faction
went on to enjoy a fine first year in the Volksraad. Regardless, the ma-
jority of the Volksraad kept their stance sturdy against nationalists who
Cornelia Hendrika Razoux Schultz- vehemently opposed the Dutch East Indies Colonial Government.
Metzer.

The National Faction focused its efforts more within the Volksraad. Its
goal was to ensure national independence could be attained in the short-
est possible time by:
a. Proposing constitutional changes.

b. Attempting to eliminate political, economic and intellectual differ-
ences between the indigenous people and the Dutch East Indies
Colonial Government.

c. Conducting both things without breaking the law.

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