The politics of Indonesia take place in the framework of a presidential representative democratic republic whereby the President of Indonesia is both head of state and head of government and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the bicameral People's Consultative Assembly. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
Sukarno was an Indonesian statesman, orator, revolutionary, and nationalist who was the first president of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967.
Suharto or Soeharto was an Indonesian army officer and politician, who served as the second and the longest serving president of Indonesia. Widely regarded as a military dictator by international observers, Suharto led Indonesia as an authoritarian regime for 30 years, from the fall of his predecessor Sukarno in 1967 until his own resignation in 1998 following a nationwide unrest. His 32-year dictatorship was one of the most brutal and corrupt of the 20th century.
The Communist Party of Indonesia was a communist party in Indonesia during the mid-20th century. It was the largest non-ruling communist party in the world before its violent disbandment in 1965. The party had two million members in the 1955 elections, with 16 percent of the national vote and almost 30 percent of the vote in East Java. During most of the period immediately following independence until the eradication of the PKI in 1965, it was a legal party operating openly in the country.
The Socialist Party of Indonesia was a political party in Indonesia from 1948 until 1960, when it was banned by President Sukarno.
The term Government of the Republic of Indonesia can have a number of different meanings. At its widest, it can refer collectively to the three traditional branches of government – the executive branch, legislative branch and judicial branch. The term is also used colloquially to mean the executive and legislature together, as these are the branches of government responsible for day-to-day governance of the nation and lawmaking. At its narrowest, the term is used to refer to the executive branch in form of the Cabinet of Indonesia as this is the branch of government responsible for day-to-day governance.
The Indonesian National Party was the name used by several nationalist political parties in Indonesia from 1927 until the 2000s. The first PNI was established by future President Sukarno. After independence, the new PNI supplied a number of prime ministers, and participated in the majority of cabinets in the 1950s and 1960s. The party was fused into the Indonesian Democratic Party in 1973. In the years following the reforms of the late 1990s, a number of parties claiming to be the continuation of previous PNIs stood in elections, but gained only a handful of seats.
The New Order is the term coined by the second Indonesian President Suharto to characterise his administration as he came to power in 1966 until his resignation in 1998. Suharto used this term to contrast his presidency with that of his predecessor Sukarno.
Indonesia's transition to the New Order in the mid-1960s ousted the country's first president, Sukarno, after 22 years in the position. One of the most tumultuous periods in the country's modern history, it was the commencement of Suharto's 31-year presidency.
The Thirtieth of September Movement was a self-proclaimed organization of Indonesian National Armed Forces members who, in the early hours of 1 October 1965, assassinated six Indonesian Army generals in an abortive coup d'état, resulting in the unofficial but more accurate name of Gestok, for Gerakan Satu Oktober, or First of October Movement. Later that morning, the organisation declared that it was in control of media and communication outlets and had taken President Sukarno under its protection. By the end of the day, the coup attempt had failed in Jakarta. Meanwhile, in central Java there was an attempt to take control over an army division and several cities. By the time this rebellion was put down, two more senior officers were dead.
The People's Consultative Assembly of the Republic of Indonesia is the legislative branch in Indonesia's political system. It is composed of the members of the People's Representative Council (DPR) and the Regional Representative Council (DPD). Before 2004, and the amendments to the 1945 Constitution, the MPR was the highest governing body in Indonesia.
The position of Prime Minister of Indonesia existed from 1945 until 1966. During this period, the prime minister was in charge of the Cabinet of Indonesia, one of the three branches of government along with the People's Representative Council and the president. Following his 1959 decree, President Sukarno assumed the role and powers of prime minister until his resignation in 1966.
Lieutenant General (Ret.) Sarwo Edhie Wibowo was an Indonesian military leader and the father of Kristiani Herrawati, the former first lady of Indonesia and the wife of president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and also the father of Chief of Staff Pramono Edhie Wibowo. As an army colonel he played a direct role in directing troops during the Indonesian killings of 1965–66, in which more than half a million Indonesian civilians died. With Suharto's blessing, Wibowo initiated the slaughter. Later, he served as Chairman of the BP-7 center, as Indonesia's ambassador for South Korea and as governor of the Indonesian Military academy.
Amir Machmud was an Indonesian military general who was an eyewitness to the signing of the Supersemar document transferring power from President Sukarno to General Suharto.
Legislative elections were held in Indonesia on 3 July 1971, the first under the New Order regime. There were ten participants; nine political parties and the "functional group" Golkar, which came first with more than 60 percent of the vote, resulting in an absolute majority in the People's Representative Council.
Large-scale killings and civil unrest primarily targeting members of the Communist Party (PKI) were carried out in Indonesia from 1965 to 1966. Other affected groups included communist sympathisers, Gerwani women, ethnic Javanese Abangan, ethnic Chinese, atheists, alleged "unbelievers" and alleged leftists. It is estimated that between 500,000 to 1,000,000 people were killed during the main period of violence from October 1965 to March 1966. The atrocities, sometimes described as a genocide or politicide, were instigated by the Indonesian Army under Suharto. Research and declassified documents demonstrate the Indonesian authorities received support from foreign countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom.
The Central Indonesian National Committee, or KNIP, was a body appointed to assist the president of the newly independent Indonesia. Originally purely advisory, it later gained assumed legislative functions. The Working Committee of the KNIP became part of the People's Representative Council when Indonesia became a unitary state in 1950.
The 27 July Incident was an attack by Indonesian government forces on the head office of the Indonesian Democratic Party, which was being occupied by supporters of recently ousted party leader Megawati Sukarnoputri. It was followed by two days of riots in Jakarta.
The Indonesia Party, better known as Partindo, was a nationalist political party in Indonesia that existed before independence and was revived in 1957 as a leftist party.
