Provisional House of Representatives

Provisional House of Representatives

*Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Sementara*
Provisional House of Representatives ; Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Sementara
Type
Type	Unicameral
History
Established	16 August 1950
Disbanded	26 March 1956
Preceded by	House of Representatives (United States of Indonesia)
Succeeded by	House of Representatives
Leadership
Speaker	Sartono (PNI)
Deputy Speaker	Albert Mangaratua Tambunan (Parkindo)
Deputy Speaker	Arudji Kartawinata (PSII)
Deputy Speaker	Tadjuddin Noor (PIR)
Structure
Seats	236 members (1950)
Authority	Passing laws and budgets (together with the President); oversight on executive branch
Meeting place
	Sociëteit Concordia Building; Jakarta, Indonesia
Constitution
	Provisional Constitution of 1950

The Provisional House of Representatives (Indonesian: Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Sementara) was the first Indonesian legislature under the Provisional Constitution of 1950. The council was formed after the transition of Indonesia to a unitary state on 17 August 1950. The council initially consisted of 236 members, with 213 remaining before the council's dissolution in 1956.

History

On 14 August 1950, three days before the dissolution of the United States of Indonesia, the House of Representatives and the Senate of the United States of Indonesia approved the draft of the Provisional Constitution of 1950. Accordingly, on 15 August 1950, the council and the senate held a joint meeting in which Sukarno read the Charter of the Establishment of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia. The charter officially abolished the United States of Indonesia and formed the Republic of Indonesia effective 17 August 1950. Thus, the charter officially dissolved the federal legislative and the senate, and a unicameral legislative for Indonesia was formed.^[1]

The second article of the Constitution of the United States of Indonesia, which came into force on 27 December 1949, stated that the "sovereignty of the Republic of Indonesia is vested in the people and is exercised by the government together with the House of Representatives".

Based on this constitution, the speaker of the council, Sartono, held the first session of the House of Representatives at the former Sociëteit Concordia building in Jakarta. After the building was renovated, the building was renamed the Parliament Building. However, the building was not yet ready for use after the opening ceremony. Thus, the meetings of the House of Representatives were held at the upper level of the Hotel des Indes.^[2]

Speaker and deputy speaker

Article 62 of the constitution stated that the speaker of the House of Representatives should be elected from and by the council members. The speaker should be assisted by several deputy speakers and elected by the same procedure as the speaker. These elections required the confirmation by the President. The constitution also stated that before such confirmation by the President, the oldest member would temporarily preside over the meeting.^[3]

Under this rule, Rajiman Wediodiningrat, the oldest member of the council at 71 years of age, was appointed to preside over the council's first session, which was to elect the speaker and deputy speaker.^[4]

On 19 August 1950, the session to elect the speaker and deputy speaker concluded with Sartono as the speaker and Albert Mangaratua Tambunan, Arudji Kartawinata, and Tadjuddin Noor as the deputy speakers. The president confirmed the results of the election on 21 August 1950.^[5]

Vice-presidential election

According to article 45 of the constitution, the president and the vice-president were elected under rules to be laid down by law. Still, for the first time, the president appointed the vice-president upon the recommendation submitted by the House of Representatives. Based on this, the council held an election for the prospective vice-president to be submitted for recommendation on 14 October 1950. Mohammad Hatta won this election and was recommended by the council to be the vice-president of Indonesia.^[6]

During the elections, seven MPs from the Communist Party of Indonesia walked out. In a letter to the speaker, these MPs stated that the vice-presidential election was unnecessary.^[7]

Candidates		Parties	Votes	%
	Mohammad Hatta	Independent	113	76.87
	Ki Hajar Dewantara	Independent	19	12.92
	Sutan Sjahrir	Socialist Party of Indonesia (PSI)	2	1.36
	Soekiman Wirjosandjojo	Masyumi Party	2	1.36
	Mohammad Yamin	Independent	2	1.36
	Iwa Koesoemasoemantri	Independent	1	0.68
	Burhanuddin Harahap	Masyumi Party	1	0.68
	Nerus Ginting Suka	National People's Party (PRN)	1	0.68
Abstentions			5	3.40
Invalid votes			1	0.68
Total			147	100
Source: Het nieuwsblad voor Sumatra, 16 October 1950

Membership

Requirements

Unlike the previous Central Indonesian National Committee, the council had a strict set of provisions regarding the membership of the council. These provisions were drawn up according to Chapters 2 and 3 of the constitution. According to this constitution, members of the House of Representatives had to be at least 25 years old, and their right to vote and be elected must not have been revoked.^[8]

Composition

Article 77 of the Constitution stated that "...the House of Representatives shall for the first time and until it is established by elections in accordance with the law, consist of the chairman, deputy chairmen, and members of the House of Representatives of the United States of Indonesia; the speaker, deputy speaker and members of the Senate; the speaker, deputy speaker and members of the Central Indonesian National Committee and the speaker, deputy speaker, and members of the Supreme Advisory Council. Thus, the council consisted of 148 members from the DPR-RIS, 29 members from the Senate, 46 members from the KNIP, and 13 members from the Supreme Advisory Council.

The constitution did not give the president the authority to add other members, as the government believed it was too difficult to determine the criteria by which such members would be appointed.^[9] Several years^{[clarification needed]} after the formation of the council, 213 members were remaining, with 23 members having died or resigned. To restore the membership, the government enacted Law No. 37/1953, which provided for the replacement of members who had resigned or died. By the end of 1954, there were 235 members. Muchammad Enoch, a legislator who had resigned from the Parki party, was not replaced by his party, thus leaving one seat empty.^[10]

There were 21 factions in the council; 16 consisted of single parties, four consisted of organizations, and one (National Progressive) was a coalition. There were also three short-lived factions: the People's Sovereignty Faction, the Labor Faction, and the Women's Faction. The latter was not actually a faction; it was instead a coalition of seven women MPs. Eleven MPs were not affiliated to any faction.^[11]

Composition of the Provisional House of Representatives
Faction	1951 seats^[12]	1954 seats^[13]
Masyumi	46	43
Indonesian National Party (PNI)	36	42
Great Indonesia Unity Party (PIR)	17	19
Socialist Party of Indonesia (PSI)	17	15
Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI)	13	17
Democratic	13	9
National People's Party (PRN)	10	13
Progressive Union	-	10
Catholic Party	9	9
Nahdlatul Ulama (NU)	-	8
Parindra	8	7
Labour Party	7	6
Parkindo	7	5
Indonesian Islamic Union Party (PSII)	5	4
Murba Party	4	4
Labour Front	4	-
People's Sovereignty	4	-
Indonesian Democratic Union (SKI)	3	4
Central All-Indonesian Workers Organization (SOBSI)	-	2
Peasant Group	2	-
Peasants Front of Indonesia (BTI)	-	2
Indonesian Peasants' Movement (GTI)	-	1
Islamic Education Movement (Perti)	-	1
Non-faction	26	11
Total	232	235

Bibliography

Djuana, Mohammad; Sulwan (1956), Tata-negara Indonesia [Government of Indonesia] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Groningen
Feith, Herbert (2008) [1962]. The Decline of Constitutional Democracy in Indonesia. Singapore: Equininox Publishing (Asia) Pte Ltd. ISBN 978-979-3780-45-0.
Hilmi Syatria, ed. (1995), Gedung MPR/DPR RI: Sejarah dan Perkembangannya [MPR/DPR RI Building: History and Development] (PDF) (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Tim Panitia Penerbitan Buku Gedung MPR/DPR RI, ISBN 979-8776-003
Tim Penyusun Sejarah (1970), Seperempat Abad Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Republik Indonesia [A Quarter Century of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia] (PDF) (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Sekretariat DPR-GR

References

^ Tim Penyusun Sejarah 1970, p. 135
^ Hilmi Syatria (ed) 1995, pp. 8–9
^ Djuana & Sulwan 1956, p. 152
^ Tim Penyusun Sejarah 1970, p. 139
^ Tim Penyusun Sejarah 1970, p. 140
^ Tim Penyusun Sejarah 1970, p. 142
^ "Drs. Hatta vice-president van de eenheidsstaat Grote meerderheid in parlement". Het nieuwsblad voor Sumatra. Medan. 16 October 1950. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
^ Djuana & Sulwan 1956, p. 96
^ Tim Penyusun Sejarah 1970, pp. 136–137
^ Tim Penyusun Sejarah 1970, pp. 137–138
^ Tim Penyusun Sejarah 1970, pp. 138–139
^ Feith 2008, p. 128.
^ Tim Penyusun Sejarah 1970, pp. 137–139.

[1] Tim Penyusun Sejarah 1970, p. 135

[2] Hilmi Syatria (ed) 1995, pp. 8–9

[3] Djuana & Sulwan 1956, p. 152

[4] Tim Penyusun Sejarah 1970, p. 139

[5] Tim Penyusun Sejarah 1970, p. 140

[6] Tim Penyusun Sejarah 1970, p. 142

[nw-7] "Drs. Hatta vice-president van de eenheidsstaat Grote meerderheid in parlement". Het nieuwsblad voor Sumatra. Medan. 16 October 1950. Retrieved 13 July 2019.

[8] Djuana & Sulwan 1956, p. 96

[9] Tim Penyusun Sejarah 1970, pp. 136–137

[10] Tim Penyusun Sejarah 1970, pp. 137–138

[11] Tim Penyusun Sejarah 1970, pp. 138–139

[FOOTNOTEFeith2008128-12] Feith 2008, p. 128.

[FOOTNOTETim_Penyusun_Sejarah1970137–139-13] Tim Penyusun Sejarah 1970, pp. 137–139.

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v t e House of Representatives
Authorities and privileges	Legislative authority Budgetary authority State Revenue and Expenditure Budget Supervisory authority Right to approve Right to opine Parliamentary immunity
Leadership	Speaker Deputy Speakers
Organs	Commissions First Second Third Fourth Fifth Sixth Seventh Eighth Ninth Tenth Eleventh Committees Steering Legislation Budget Household Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation Ethics Code of Ethics Code of Conduct Secretariat-General Secretary-General (list)
Periods	1945–50 (KNIP) 1950 (RUSI) 1950–56 (Provisional) 1956–59 Transitional 1960–65 (Mutual Assistance) 1965–66 (Mutual Assistance) 1966–71 (Mutual Assistance) 1971–77 1977–82 1982–87 1987–92 1992–97 1997–99 1999–2004 2004–09 2009–14 2014–19 2019–24
Historical	Volksraad (Dutch East Indies) Central Indonesian National Committee House of Representatives of the United States of Indonesia Provisional House of Representatives Transitional House of Representatives House of Representatives of Mutual Assistance
See also Politics of Indonesia Elections in Indonesia