DR SUKARNO’S ACHIEVEMENTS

Dr. Sukarno became the first President of the Republic of Indonesia in 1950. Mohammed Hatta became its first Prime Minister.

From the beginning the Republic of Indonesia was not provided with a permanent constitution. The Unitary Republic under Sukarno possessed a simple constitutional structure. At the center there was a single chambered parliament. Its members were to be nominated by the political parties on the basis of proportional representation. Sukarno was elected by the parliament as the President a titular head of the State. Mohammed Hatta was appointed Vice President by the President.

Guided Democracy – The President was vested with wide powers. Availing these power he introduced a new political system which he described as ‘Guided Democracy’. He found the political parties unstable and were therefore, causing internal trouble. In order to avoid political strife, Sukarno proclaimed martial law in February 1957. Thereby he assumed supreme powers and the army was to exercise control under the guidance of the President. He dissolved the Constituent Assembly in July 1959 and revived the 1945 Constitution. He then suspended the Parliament. He filled the different branches of administration with men of his choice who could support his regime. The different political parties like the Nationalists, the Moslem Conservatives, the Communists and the army cooperated with him in carrying through the experiment of Guided Democracy under his personal control.

Sukarno also succeeded in reshaping the economy of the nation. He followed the policy of economic nationalism and put an end to foreign capitalism. This helped the State a lot in carrying out economic planning successfully and achieving the welfare of the people.

Moreover, the personal rule of Sukarno began to lose its charm gradually. It was also affected by the communist insurrections.

Though Sukarno was influenced by western democracy in his early days, when he assumed supreme powers he transformed the democratic concepts as a national ideology. The national interest became more dominant. His philosophy laid emphasis on national traditions. According to him, the party system resulted in political antagonism which affected national interests. The concept of Guided Democracy was based on the principle of deliberation, unanimity and strong leadership.

The President represented the aspirations of the people in this system. The systems established by Sukarno kept the communists away from the Governmental machinery. The people were commended not to slander, not to render disrespect to the government and not to act against the established ethical standards.

Sukarno’s moral code was explained in the famous ‘Panchsheela’ or the five ethical principles.

The above concepts were to be practiced by all implicitly. It aimed at the development of national character among the people. The army was entrusted with the work of enforcing these ideals.

The critics of President Sukarno felt that his regime was tending towards the personal dictatorship of the President. He was overthrown by a military coup. After the successful military coup Suharto succeeded him in 1967.

However, Socialism was newly interpreted by Sukarno. He presented it to his people in the form of Guided Democracy. According to the new interpretation, Socialism for him was anti-imperialist, anti-capitalist and it was spiritual rather than a materialistic philosophy. He emphasized the need for ‘Indonesian identity’, ‘human values’, ‘economic democracy’ and ‘eradication of exploitation’.

Foreign policy – At the very outset President Sukarno and his people denounced imperialism in any form. He shaped the Indonesian foreign policy on the basis of mutual cooperation and respect for independence. He maintained neutrality and remained away from the power blocs. He had no hesitation to conclude treaties of friendship with China and Japan which did not involve military alliances. He strived to promote international peace and end colonialism. Under him, Indonesia played an important role to bring the Afro Asian States together at the conference table to understand their common problems, as the host at the Bandung Conference in 1955. Indonesia joined the Asian African states in the United Nations whenever their common interests were involved. After the Bandung Conference, Indonesia was able to settle the issue of Chinese nationals in Indonesia. Thus, the policy of peaceful co-existence was cultivated, and he tried to prepare the nation to face the more serious problems with great vigor.

  

Ref: History of South East Asia – N. Jayapalan (p.59)