GOVERNMENT
Indonesia is a republic based on the 1945 constitution providing for a separation of executive, legislative, and judicial power. Substantial restructuring has occurred since President Soeharto's resignation in 1998 and the short, transitional Habibie administration in 1998 and 1999. The Habibie government established political reform legislation that formally set up new rules for the electoral system, the House of Representatives (DPR), the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), and political parties without changing the 1945 Indonesian constitution. After these reforms, the constitution now limits the president to two terms in office.
Indonesia adopted a bicameral legislative system following the establishment of
the DPD (Regional Representatives Council), which was first elected in 2004. The
DPD is composed of four representatives from each of Indonesia’s 33 provinces. Although it can make proposals and submit opinions on legislative matters concerning the regions, it does not have the power to create legislation. The MPR consists of both the DPD and the DPR. The MPR has the power to inaugurate and to impeach the president (upon the recommendation of the DPR). The current Speaker of the MPR is Hidayat Nur Wahid and the Speaker of the DPR is Agung Laksono. A new speaker and four deputy speakers for the DPR and MPR will be chosen sometime after the presidential inauguration October 20, 2009. The largest party in the DPR, now President Yudhoyono’s Partai Demokrat, will fill the influential DPR speaker position.
The president, elected for a five-year term, is the top government and political figure. The president and the vice president were elected by popular vote for the first time on September 20, 2004. Previously, the MPR selected Indonesia's president. In 1999, the MPR selected Abdurrahman Wahid, also known as Gus Dur, as the fourth President. The MPR removed Gus Dur in July 2001, immediately appointing then-Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri as the fifth President. Megawati brought a certain amount of stability to Indonesia, yet there were concerns over progress on combating corruption and encouraging economic growth. In 2004, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was elected to succeed Megawati.
The president, assisted by an appointed cabinet, has the authority to conduct the administration of the government.
President Yudhoyono's Partai Demokrat (PD) holds 145 of the 560 seats in the House of Representatives (DPR), making it the largest political party represented in the legislature as of September 2009. Partai Demokrat has a coalition with the four largest Islamic parties. The coalition holds a majority of the seats in the DPR. The People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) has 692 members, including 560 members of the DPR and the 132 representatives of the Council of Regional Representatives (DPD). Since 2004, citizens have elected legislators for the DPR and DPD, but their vote was based on a party list system. This ensured that the party elite, placed at the top of the party candidate lists, were voted into office. In 2009, a “majority vote wins” system allowed voters for the first time to directly put the candidate who won a plurality of votes into office.
Prior to 2004, some legislative seats had been reserved for representatives of the armed forces. The military has been a significant political force throughout Indonesian history, though it had ceded its formal political role by 2004. The armed forces shaped the political environment and provided leadership for Suharto's New Order from the time it came to power in the wake of the abortive 1965 uprising. Military officers, especially from the army, were key advisers to Suharto and Habibie and had considerable influence on policy. Under the dual function concept ("dwifungsi"), the military asserted a continuing role in socio-political affairs. This concept was used to justify placement of officers in the civilian bureaucracy at all government levels and in regional and national legislatures. Although the military retains influence and is one of the only truly national institutions, the wide-ranging democratic reforms instituted since 1999 abolished "dwifungsi" and ended the armed forces' formal involvement in government administration. The police have been separated from the military, further reducing the military's direct role in governmental matters. Control of the military by the democratically elected government has been strengthened.
As a reaction to Suharto's centralization of power and reflecting historically
independent sentiment, Hasan di Tiro established the Free Aceh Movement (Gerakan
Aceh Merdeka, GAM) in December 1976 to seek independence for Aceh. Some 15,000
died in military conflict in Aceh over the following three decades. Through
peace talks led by former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, a peace agreement
between GAM and the Indonesian Government that provided wide-ranging autonomy
for Aceh was signed on August 15, 2005. By December 2005, GAM declared that it
had disbanded the military wing of its organization, and the Indonesian
Government had withdrawn the bulk of its security forces down to agreed levels.
On December 11, 2006, Aceh held gubernatorial and district administrative
elections, the first democratic elections in over half a century in Aceh,
resulting in the election of a former separatist leader as governor. In 2009,
Aceh participated in the national legislative and presidential elections and
elected its own provincial legislature.
Principal
Government Officials
President--Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
Vice President--Jusuf Kalla
Minister of Foreign Affairs--Noer Hassan Wirajuda
Ambassador to the United States--Sudjadnan Parnohadiningrat
Ambassador to the United Nations--Marty Natalegawa
The
embassy of Indonesia
is at 2020 Massachusetts Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20036 (tel.
202-775-5200-5207; fax: 202-775-5365). Consulates General are
in New York (5 East 68th Street, New York, NY 10021, tel. 212-879-0600/0615;
fax: 212-570-6206); Los Angeles (3457 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles,
CA 90010; tel. 213-383-5126; fax: 213-487-3971); Houston (10900
Richmond Ave., Houston, TX 77042; tel. 713-785-1691; fax: 713-780-9644).
Consulates are in San Francisco (1111 Columbus Avenue, San Francisco,
CA 94133; tel. 415-474-9571; fax: 415-441-4320); and Chicago (2
Illinois Center, Suite 1422233 N. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL
60601; tel. 312-938-0101/4; 312-938-0311/0312; fax: 312-938-3148).
Government
Type: Independent republic.
Independence: August 17, 1945 proclaimed.
Constitution: 1945. Embodies five principles of the state philosophy, called Pancasila, namely monotheism, humanitarianism, national unity, representative democracy by consensus, and social justice.
Branches: Executive--president (head of government and chief of state) elected by direct popular vote. Legislative--The People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), which includes the 550-member House of Representatives (DPR) and the 128-member Council of Regional Representatives (DPD), both elected to five-year terms. Judicial--Supreme Court.
Suffrage: 17 years of age universal and married persons regardless of age.
