Indonesian legislative election, 1987

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Indonesia's fifth legislative election, and the fourth under the New Order government, was held on 23 April 1987. There were three participants; the two political parties and the "functional group" Golkar. Like all the New Order elections, it was an outright victory for Golkar.

Indonesia Republic in Southeast Asia

Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia, between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It is the world's largest island country, with more than seventeen thousand islands, and at 1,904,569 square kilometres, the 14th largest by land area and the 7th largest in combined sea and land area. With over 261 million people, it is the world's 4th most populous country as well as the most populous Muslim-majority country. Java, the world's most populous island, is home to more than half of the country's population.

The New Order is the term coined by the second Indonesian President Suharto to characterise his regime as he came to power in 1966. Suharto used this term to contrast his rule with that of his predecessor, Sukarno. The term "New Order" in more recent times has become synonymous with the Suharto years (1966–1998).

Golkar political party in Indonesia

The Golkar Party or Party of Functional Groups is a political party in Indonesia. It was founded as Sekber Golkar in 1964, and participated for the first time in 1971 as Golkar. At this point, Golkar was not a political party. In 1999, forced by the new election law, the groups reformed itself as a political party.

Contents

Background

In the elections of 1977 and 1982, the notionally Islamic United Development Party (PPP) had seen a steady increase in its share of the vote, despite the New Order government's restrictions on political activity. It managed to position itself as the party of the "little people". In 1984, with the agreement of the government, under the leadership of Abdurrahman Wahid, the Nahdatul Ulama (NU) left the PPP, which it had been forced to join under the 1973 fusion of the Islamic parties. [1] Later that year, the government obliged all political parties to adopt the state philosophy Pancasila as their ideological basis. In 1985 the PPP was pressured to change the party symbol from the Kaaba, the building at the center of the al-Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, to the star from the official symbol for Pancasila. [2]

United Development Party political party in Indonesia

The United Development Party is an Islam-based political party in Indonesia. Due to its distinctive logo, the party is nicknamed "Kaaba Party".

In 1987, the NU leadership declared that its members and supporters were "not obliged to vote for the PPP, and not forbidden to vote for Golkar". This had the effect of increasing the influence of the NU, which had been much diminished within the PPP. [1] [3]

The campaign

The priority of Golkar was to secure a majority of the popular vote in the devoutly Islamic province of Aceh, the only province apart from Jakarta where it had failed to do so in 1982. [4] [5] In order to achieve this, Golkar made use of two civil servants: the managing director of state oil company Pertamina and the head of the State Logistics agency (Bulog), to run its financial campaign. Local companies, much more heavily dependent on government contracts then in the past, were the biggest donors. However, the crucial factor for Golkar was the political leadership of Aceh governor Ibrahim Hasan, an economist who managed to unite the traditional and modern aspirations of the Acehnese people. He traveled around the province telling people that a Golkar victory would bring about material development without sacrificing traditional values. [6]

Aceh Province in Indonesia

Aceh is a province of Indonesia, located at the northern end of Sumatra. Its capital and largest city is Banda Aceh. It is close to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India and separated from them by the Andaman Sea. Granted a special autonomous status, Aceh is a religiously conservative territory and the only Indonesian province practicing Sharia law officially. There are ten indigenous ethnic groups in this region, the largest being the Acehnese people, accounting for approximately 80% to 90% of the region's population.

PT Pertamina (Persero) or Pertamina is an Indonesian state-owned oil and natural gas corporation based in Jakarta. It was created in August 1968 by the merger of Pertamin and Permina. The firm is currently (2013) the second-largest crude oil producer in Indonesia behind the US-based Chevron Pacific Indonesia. In 2013 for the first time, Pertamina ranked no. 122 in the Fortune Global 500 list of companies with revenues totalling to $70.9 billion, Pertamina is also the sole Indonesian company to be featured in the list.

In the final days of the campaign, thousands of young supporters of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) paraded in Jakarta carrying portraits of former president Sukarno. In their eyes, the anti-Western Sukarno was associated with the Indonesian National Party (PNI), one of the parties forced to fuse into the PDI in 1973, and was therefore a clear symbol of opposition to the pro-Western New Order. During the campaign, the PDI had tried to take a stand against corruption and economic inequality. [7]

Indonesian Democratic Party

The Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) was one of the two state-approved parties during the New Order era of the late 20th-century in Indonesia.

Jakarta Special Capital Region in Indonesia

Jakarta, officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Located on the northwest coast of the world's most populous island, Java, it is the centre of economics, culture and politics of Indonesia, with a population of 10,075,310 as of 2014. Jakarta metropolitan area has an area of 6,392 square kilometers, which is known as Jabodetabek. It is the world's second largest urban agglomeration with a population of 30,214,303 as of 2010. Jakarta is predicted to reach 35.6 million people by 2030 to become the world's biggest megacity. Jakarta's business opportunities, as well as its potential to offer a higher standard of living, attract migrants from across the Indonesian archipelago, combining many communities and cultures.

Sukarno First President of the Republic of Indonesia

Sukarno was the first President of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967.

Results

1987 Election ballot Surat suara pemilihan DPR 1987 jawa tengah.jpg
1987 Election ballot

As a result of the withdrawal of the NU, the PPP lost more than 40% of its 1982 vote, with Golkar seeing the most benefit. [5] The PPP vote fell in 24 or the 27 provinces. [8] The PDI share of the vote rose by 3%, with its share up by more than a third over 1982. Most of the increases came in western Java, and in Jakarta, the PDI's vote rose to 28.8% from 15.8% in 1982. With the conflicts with the PPP following the departure of the NU, voting for the PDI was the only way of registering a protest against the domination by the military-bureaucracy of the political system. [7] Golkar, meanwhile, achieved its aim in Aceh, and for the first time won an absolute majority of the vote in Jakarta and every other province of Indonesia. This would be the case for every election until the 1998 collapse of the New Order. [5]

Java island of Indonesia

Java is an island of Indonesia, bordered by the Indian Ocean on the south and the Java Sea on the north. With a population of over 141 million or 145 million, Java is the home to 56.7 percent of the Indonesian population and is the world's most populous island. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is located on its northwestern coast. Much of Indonesian history took place on Java. It was the center of powerful Hindu-Buddhist empires, the Islamic sultanates, and the core of the colonial Dutch East Indies. Java was also the center of the Indonesian struggle for independence during the 1930s and 1940s. Java dominates Indonesia politically, economically and culturally. Four of Indonesia's eight UNESCO world heritage sites are located in Java: Ujung Kulon National Park, Borobudur Temple, Prambanan Temple, and Sangiran Early Man Site.

Ballot numberElection participantVotes%Seats
2 Functional Groups (Golongan Karya, Golkar)62,783,68073.16299
1 United Development Party (Partai Persatuan Pembangunan, PPP)13,701,42815.9761
3 Indonesian Democratic Party (Partai Demokrasi Indonesia, PDI)9,384,70810.8740
Total85,869,816100%400
Source: Komisi Pemilihan Umum (General Election Commission)

The aftermath

After the election the next item on the political agenda was the election of the president and vice-president by the People's Consultative Assembly. The reelection of 66-year-old Suharto was a foregone conclusion given he appointed half the membership of the assembly as well as controlling the elected Golkar members and the unelected delegates from the Armed Forces. This added up to 80% of the membership. The only question was who would Suharto appoint as Vice President. Eventually the post went to Golkar chairman and State Secretary/Minister Sudharmono. In March 1988 the two men were formally elected and inaugurated for the 1988–1993 term. [9]

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References

  1. 1 2 Schwartz (1994) p172
  2. ↑ Liddle (1994) p94
  3. ↑ Liddle (1994) p95
  4. ↑ Liddle (1994) p96
  5. 1 2 3 Evans (2003)
  6. ↑ Liddle (1994) p97
  7. 1 2 Liddle (1994) p98
  8. ↑ Liddle (1994) p92
  9. ↑ Liddle (1994) p99

Bibliography

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