Page 70 - BUKU A CENTURY OF PARLIAMENTARY LIFE IN INDONESIA

FROM VOLKSRAAD TO THE CENTRAL INDONESIAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE
(1917–1949)

Criticism against Soekarno arose as the result of Article IV of the Tran-
sitional Rules of the 1945 Constitution, which stated that all powers
were to be held by the President with the assistance of the National
Committee. The powers were unlimited, and because he was assisted
by the National Committee, the only way to improve it was to enforce
democracy.

To overcome various criticisms, the government
announced on October 5, 1945 that preparations
for holding a general election had been under-
way. This was the first news reported on the im-
pending election. To overcome

The government’s election announcement did various criticisms,
not diminish the people’s desire to redefine the government
KNIP’s function accordingly. Two days after the
announcement, on October 7, 1945, a referen- announced on
dum was called in the KNIP. The referendum was October 5, 1945 that
sponsored by 50 KNIP members who urged the
President to use his special powers to form an preparations for
MPR immediately, so that KNIP members could holding a general
be considered as MPR members.
election had been

This referendum led to the KNIP Plenary Session I, underway. This was
held in Jakarta on 16–17 October 1945, about nine the first news reported
days after the referendum was proposed. The First
Plenary Session of the KNIP was held at the Balai on the impending
Muslimin Kramat Building.
election.

When discussing the referendum, Amir Syarifud-
din said that due to the very precarious situation
that was the arrival of the Allies, it would be very
likely that members would not be able to attend
every KNIP meeting. In addition, because the
KNIP was so large and had so many members, it would be difficult
to make quick decisions. Hence, he suggested that a “working com-
mittee” be formed. The committee could temporarily be given legisla-
tive tasks. Amir’s working committee was modeled after the working
committee of the Indian National Congress in India. The Indian working
committee convened once every 10 days, while the KNIP would only
meet once a year.

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