The writing The
Japanese invaded the
Dutch East Indies in 1942, defeated the
Dutch colonial regime, and
occupied it for the duration of
World War II. The territory then fell under the jurisdiction of the Japanese
Southern Expeditionary Army Group (南方軍,
Nanpō gun), based in
Saigon,
Vietnam. The Japanese divided the territory into three
military government regions, based on the largest islands: Sumatra was under the
Japanese 25th Army, Java under the
Japanese 16th Army and East Indonesia (the eastern islands), including part of Borneo (Sarawak and Sabah were under the Japanese 38th Army) was under the
Imperial Japanese Navy. As the Japanese military position became increasingly untenable, especially after their defeat at the
Battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944, more and more native Indonesians were appointed to official positions in the occupation administration. On 1 March 1945, the 16th Army established the
Investigating Committee for Preparatory Work for Independence (), for Java. The 25th Army later established a BPUPK for Sumatra. No such organisation existed for the remainder of the East Indies. The BPUPK in Java, when established, consisted of 62 members, but there were 68 in the second session. It was chaired by
Radjiman Wedyodiningrat (1879–1951). The future president
Sukarno and vice-president
Mohammad Hatta were among its members. It met in the building that had been used by the Dutch colonial quasi-parliament, the
Volksraad ("People's Council") in central
Jakarta. It held two sessions, 29 May – 1 June and 10–17 July 1945. The first session discussed general matters, including the philosophy of the state for future independent Indonesia,
Pancasila, which future president Sukarno outlined in a speech on 1 June. During the recess between the two BPUPK sessions, a Committee of Nine (
Panitia Sembilan) comprising Sukarno, Hatta, Yamin,
Maramis, Soebardjo,
Wahid Hasjim, Muzakkir,
Agus Salim and Abikoesno reformulated Sukarno's Pancasila in to a preamble for the future constitution. This later became known as the
Jakarta Charter. •
Sukarno •
A.A. Maramis • Puruboyo •
Oto Iskandar di Nata •
Agus Salim •
Achmad Soebardjo •
Soepomo •
Maria Ulfah Santoso •
Wahid Hasyim •
Parada Harahap •
Johannes Latuharhary •
Susanto Tirtoprodjo •
Sartono •
Wongsonegoro • Wuryaningrat • Singgih •
Tan Eng Hoa • Jayadiningrat •
Soekiman Wirjosandjojo The draft constitution comprised 37 articles, 4 transitory provisions and 2 additional provisions. The nation would be a
unitary state and a
republic. On 26 July 1945, the Allies called for the unconditional surrender of Japan in the
Potsdam Declaration. The Japanese authorities, realising they would probably lose the war, began to make firm plans for Indonesian independence, more to spite the Dutch than anything else. On 6 August,
an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. On 7 August, the
Southern Expeditionary Army Group headquarters announced that an Indonesian leader could enact a body called the
Preparatory Committee for Indonesian Independence (PPKI). The dropping of a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, and the
Soviet invasion of Manchuria on 9 August prompted the Japanese to
surrender unconditionally on 15 August 1945. Sukarno and Hatta
declared independence on 17 August 1945, and the PPKI met the following day. In the meeting chaired by Sukarno, the 27 members, including
Hatta,
Soepomo,
Wachid Hasjim,
Sam Ratulangi and
Subardjo, began to discuss the proposed constitution article by article. The Committee made some fundamental changes, including the removal of 7 words from the text of Jakarta Charter which stated the obligation for
Muslims to follow Sharia. The new charter then became the preambule of the constitution, and the clause stating that the president must be a Muslim was removed. The historical compromise was made possible in part by the influence of Mohamad Hatta and Tengku Mohamad Hasan. The Committee then officially adopted the Constitution.
Constitutional amendments Suharto, who officially became president in 1968, refused to countenance any changes to the Constitution despite the fact that even Sukarno had viewed it as a provisional document. In 1983, the
People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) passed a decree stipulating the need for a nationwide referendum to be held before any amendments were made to the Constitution. This led to a 1985 law requiring such a referendum to have a 90% turnout and for any changes to be approved by a 90% vote. Then in 1997, the activist
Sri Bintang Pamungkas and two colleagues were arrested and jailed for publishing a proposed modified version of the 1945 Constitution. With the fall of Suharto and the
New Order regime in 1998, the 1983 decree and 1985 law were rescinded and the way was clear to amend the Constitution to make it more democratic. This was done in four stages at sessions of the MPR in 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002. As a result, the original Constitution has grown from 37 articles to 73, of which only 11% remain unchanged from the original constitution. The most important of the changes were: • Limiting presidents to two terms of office • Establishing a
Regional Representative Council (DPD), which together with the DPR makes up an entirely elected MPR. • Moving to a tripartite
separation of powers system instead of a
unified state power ultimately derived from the MPR. • Purifying and empowering
presidential system of government, instead of a
parliamentary republic with an executive president. • Stipulating democratic, direct elections for the president, instead of the president being elected by the MPR • Reorganizing the mechanism of horizontal relation among state organs, instead of giving the highest constitutional position to the People's Assembly. • Abolishing the Supreme Advisory Council • Mandating direct, general, free, secret, honest, and fair elections for the House of Representatives and regional legislatures • Establishing a Constitutional Court for guarding and defending the constitutional system as set forth in the constitution. • Establishing a Judicial Commission • The addition of ten entirely new articles concerning human rights. Among the above changes, the establishment of Constitutional Court is regarded as a successful innovation in Indonesia constitutional system. The court was established in 2003 by 9 justices head by Professor
Jimly Asshiddiqie, a prominent scholar from the
University of Indonesia. There are five jurisdictions of the court, i.e. (i) constitutional review of law, (ii) disputes of constitutional jurisdiction between state institutions, (iii) disputes on electoral results, (iv) dissolution of political parties, and (v) impeachment of the president/vice-president. The other icon of success in Indonesian reform is the establishment of the
Corruption Eradication Commission which independently fights against corruption and grafts. Corruption in Indonesia is regarded an extraordinary crime. ==Legal standing==