Sukarno was an Indonesian statesman, orator, revolutionary, and nationalist who was the first president of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967.
Suharto was an Indonesian military officer and the second President of Indonesia. Widely regarded as a military dictator by international observers, Suharto led Indonesia as an authoritarian regime from 1967 until his resignation in 1998 following nationwide unrest. His 31-year dictatorship is considered one of the most brutal and corrupt of the 20th century: he was central to the perpetration of mass killings against alleged communists and subsequent persecution of ethnic Chinese, irreligious people, and trade unionists.
The Communist Party of Indonesia was a communist party in the Dutch East Indies and later Indonesia. 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 the Indonesian Independence until the eradication of the PKI in 1965, it was a legal party operating openly in the country. Accused of responsibility for the 1965 army-led coup attempt, the party was banned by General Suharto in March 1966.
The Socialist Party of Indonesia was a political party in Indonesia from 1948 until 1960, when it was banned by President Sukarno.
Abdul Haris Nasution was a high-ranking Indonesian general and politician. He served in the military during the Indonesian National Revolution and he remained in the military during the subsequent turmoil of the Parliamentary democracy and Guided Democracy. Following the fall of President Sukarno from power, he became the Speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly under President Suharto. Born into a Batak Muslim family, in the village of Hutapungkut, Dutch East Indies, he studied teaching and enrolled at a military academy in Bandung.
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 the form of the President of Indonesia, as assisted by the Vice President and the Cabinet, 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 1973. 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 describes the regime of the second Indonesian President Suharto from his rise to power in 1966 until his resignation in 1998. Suharto coined the term upon his accession and used it 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 also the commencement of Suharto's 31-year presidency.
The Thirtieth of September Movement was a self-proclaimed organization of Indonesian National Armed Forces members. In the early hours of 1 October 1965, they assassinated six Indonesian Army generals in an abortive coup d'état. Later that morning, the organization 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 a lower body, House of Representatives (DPR) and an upper body, Regional Representative Council (DPD). Before 2004, and the amendments to the 1945 Constitution, the MPR was the highest governing body in Indonesia.
The Prime Minister of the Republic of Indonesia was a political office in Indonesia which 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 House of Representatives and the president. Following his 1959 decree, President Sukarno assumed the role and powers of prime minister until his resignation in 1966.
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 mass 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 to South Korea, and as governor of the Indonesian Military Academy.
General (Ret.) 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.
The Operational Command for the Restoration of Security and Order, or Kopkamtib, was a military body established to deal with the 1965 coup attempt operation in Indonesia, and was subsequently used by President Suharto's New Order regime to suppress dissent.
Large-scale killings and civil unrest primarily targeting members and supposed sympathizers of the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI) were carried out in Indonesia from 1965 to 1966. Other affected groups included alleged communist sympathisers, Gerwani women, trade unionists, ethnic Javanese Abangan, ethnic Chinese, atheists, so-called "unbelievers", and alleged leftists in general. According to the most widely published estimates at least 500,000 to 1 million people were killed, with some estimates going as high as two to three million. The atrocities, sometimes described as a genocide or a 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 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 Indonesian People's Movement, better known as Gerindo, was a left-wing and nationalist political party in the Dutch East Indies which existed from 1937 to 1942. It had modest goals and was largely cooperative to the colonial administration. More strongly anti-fascist than anti-colonialist, the party sought to support the colonial government in opposing fascism, especially Japanese fascism.
