GOVERNMENT Overview: Indonesia is a republic based on limited separation of powers among the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The constitution of 1945 is in force, but, based on a constitutional amendment of August 2002, beginning with the 2004 presidential elections, the once powerful, party-centered presidency is subject to popular election and limited to two five-year terms. Prior to the 2004 elections, the People’s Consultative Assembly (Majelis Permusyawaratan Rakyat—MPR) chose the president and vice president, who were not necessarily from the same political party. Under the new law, the president and vice president are elected on a single ticket and the winning ticket must win more than 50 percent of the popular vote and at least 20 percent of the vote in half of the provinces. If these percentages are not met, a second-round runoff election is held. The president is both chief of state and head of government.

The MPR, the highest authority of the state, has both elected and appointed members. Under the amendment that surrendered its presidential election powers, the MPR also replaced its 200 nonelected members (representatives of provinces and various social groups) with elected members of a new legislative body, the 200-seat House of Regional Representatives (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah—DPD), which was established by constitutional amendment in 2001. The DPD joins the existing 500-seat House of People's Representatives (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat—DPR) in a bicameral, all-elected legislature. The members of both houses make up the MPR.

The highest court of the land is the Supreme Court (Mahkamah Agung), composed of justices appointed by the president from a list of candidates approved by the legislature. In 2004 the Supreme Court was preparing to assume administrative responsibility for the lower-court system, currently run by the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights. Under the Supreme Court is a quadripartite judiciary of general, religious, military, and administrative courts. Appeals can be made, sequentially, from a district court to a high court to the Supreme Court. A separate Constitutional Court was established in 2003. The Supreme Audit Board (Badan Permeriksa Keuangan) oversees accountability of public finance and is independent of the chief executive, but its members are chosen by the president.

The judicial branch is theoretically equal to the executive and legislative branches and has the right of judicial review over laws passed by the DPR, as well as government regulations and presidential, ministerial, and gubernatorial decrees. In practice, however, the judiciary is less influential than the executive and legislative branches, and it has often been heavily influenced by the executive branch. Indonesia has not accepted compulsory International Court of Justice jurisdiction.

Administrative Divisions: Indonesia has 30 provincial-level units: 27 provinces (propinsi), two special regions (daerah istimewa; Aceh and Yogyakarta), and one special capital city region (daerah khusus; Jakarta). Since January 1, 2001, when central control over local affairs was lessened, the 357 districts (kabupaten) and municipalities (kotamadya)—the first-level provincial subdivisions—became the administrative units responsible for providing most government services. Following a 1999 referendum agreed to by the legislature, and a period of United Nations stewardship, the province of Timor Timur became the independent nation of the Democratic Republic of Timor-L’este (East Timor or Timor Lorosa’e) on May 20, 2002.

Provincial and Local Government: Provinces (propinsi) are divided into districts or regencies (kabupaten), which are further divided into subdistricts (kecamatan). There also are some municipalities or city governments (kotamadya) that are on the same administrative level as the districts and others that are on the subdistrict level. The lowest level of the administrative hierarchy is the village (desa). The chief executives are provincial governors, district or regency heads, mayors of cities, and village heads. Legislation is handled by provincial and district parliaments. Under the revised election laws, governors, mayors, and district heads (regents) were to be directly elected for the first time in 2004.

Judicial and Legal System: The legal system is based on Roman-Dutch law, modified by indigenous concepts and by new criminal procedures and election codes. There are 2,418 district courts, each of which has a panel of judges that conducts trials by posing questions, hearing evidence, deciding on guilt or innocence, and assessing punishment. Both the defense and prosecution can appeal verdicts. Arbitrary arrest and detention are prohibited, but the government lacks adequate enforcement mechanisms, and authorities have routinely violated the Criminal Procedures Code. The code provides prisoners with the right to notify their families promptly, and specifies that warrants must be produced during an arrest. Exceptions are allowed if, for example, a suspect is caught in the act of committing a crime. The law allows investigators to issue warrants; at times, however, authorities make arrests without warrants.

Electoral System: Indonesia has direct, popular election of its parliamentary representatives. All citizens 17 years of age and older are eligible to vote. Indonesia’s first free parliamentary elections since 1955 were held in July 1999 and resulted in a major victory for a new party under the leadership of Sukarno’s daughter, Megawati Sukarnoputri—the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). The PDI-P, although receiving the greatest share of the vote, did not have sufficient support within the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR), which instead chose the Muslim leader and progressive intellectual Abdurrahman Wahid as president and permitted the appointment of Megawati to the office of vice president. Up to and including this election, the president and vice president were elected separately by the MPR for five-year terms. When Wahid was found incompetent, he was deposed by the MPR, which then elected Megawati to the presidency. In accordance with constitutional changes, the 2004 election of the president and vice president was, for the first time, by direct vote of the citizenry. The first round in the presidential elections held in July 2004 narrowed the field of candidates, with the Democratic Party candidate, retired army general Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, gaining the most votes and Megawati coming in second among the five candidates. In the second round, in September, Megawati was decisively defeated and Yudhoyono was sworn in as president in October 2004.

Politics and Political Parties: The old emphasis on consensus, unity, and controlled political development came to an end in the post-Suharto era, starting in 1998. Whereas the official government party, Golkar, once held an absolute majority, there are now numerous parties vying for power, and none enjoys national majority support. These parties include the Crescent Moon and Star Party (PBB), Democratic Party (PD), Indonesia Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P), National Awakening Party (PKB), National Mandate Party (PAN), Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), and United Development Party (PPP). As a result of the April 2004 parliamentary elections, Golkar had 128 seats, PDI-P 109 seats, PPP 58 seats, PD 57 seats, PKB 52 seats, PAN 52 seats, PKS 45 seats, and other parties 49 seats.

Mass Media: The constitution provides for freedom of speech and freedom of the press; however, the government has a history of restricting these rights in practice. In August 1990, the government formally announced that it would refrain from censoring domestic and foreign media and from revoking the publishing licenses of newspapers that violated regulations governing the press. Yet in practice, the government’s policy toward the press did not change, and in 1994 it revoked the licenses of three major news magazines, Editor, DeTik, and Tempo. After President Suharto’s resignation in May 1998, the government once again officially disavowed censorship, and within six months both DeTik and Tempo had resumed publication (the latter under the name DeTak). Private press in current operation includes nearly 50 daily newspapers, dozens of magazines, 10 foreign press bureaus, and five private commercial television stations. There are also 10 foreign press bureaus, two government radio stations (Radio Republik Indonesia and Voice of Indonesia), one government news agency (Antara), and one independent national news agency (Kantorberita Nasional Indonesia). The government does not restrict Internet usage or content.

Foreign Relations: Indonesia is a charter member of the Nonaligned Movement, which was established in September 1961. The April 1955 Asian-African Conference—held in Bandung, Indonesia—was an important milestone in the development of the Nonaligned Movement’s goal of independence from the Cold War superpowers (the United States and the Soviet Union) and the former colonialist powers and put Indonesia on the international stage for a time. As the Sukarno era progressed, however, Indonesia’s government was at odds with the Dutch over West New Guinea (now called Papua) and increasingly hostile toward neighboring Malaysia to the point that Sukarno withdrew Indonesia from the United Nations when Malaysia was appointed a nonpermanent member of the Security Council in 1964.

In the mid-1960s, following an attempted coup and subsequent upheaval, in which hundreds of thousands of communists and suspected communists were killed, power was transferred from Sukarno to General Suharto and a “New Order” established in which the military was paramount. This government moved quickly to rejoin the United Nations and reopen Indonesia to Western investment and influence. Relations with China, which was widely thought to have aided the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), were suspended. In 1967 Indonesia participated in establishing a new officially nonaligned grouping of neighbors, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which was friendly toward the Western powers. Its secretariat was placed in Jakarta, and its first secretary general was an Indonesian. The commemoration of the thirtieth anniversary of the Bandung Conference in 1985 saw Indonesia’s full reemergence on the world stage, allowing Jakarta to project itself as a leading voice in the Nonaligned Movement and providing it with an extra-regional platform for claiming proper international standing. Indonesia’s diplomatic relations with China had been reinstituted in 1990. Then, in 1991, Indonesia gained its long-sought goal of chairing the Nonaligned Movement, but the 1992 Jakarta summit came at a time when the Cold War had ended and superpower rivalries were a thing of the past.

Indonesia continues to play an important role in ASEAN affairs, particularly in efforts to settle the Cambodia crisis. Indonesia’s most contentious regional relations are those with Australia, mostly over the situation in East Timor. In the 2000s, the Indonesia government proclaims that its relations with all major nations are based on the principles of nonalignment and what it calls an “independent and active foreign policy.”

Membership in International Organizations: Indonesia is a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Nonaligned Movement, the United Nations (UN), and numerous other international organizations, including: the Asian Development Bank, Center for International Forestry Research, Developing Eight, Food and Agriculture Organization, Group of 15, Group of 77, International Atomic Energy Agency, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, International Civil Aviation Organization, International Conference of Islamic Scholars, International Committee of the Red Cross, International Finance Corporation, International Labour Organization, International Maritime Organization, International Monetary Fund, International Telecommunication Union, Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, Organization of the Islamic Conference, UN Children’s Fund, UN Conference on Trade and Development, UN Development Programme, UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, UN Fund for Population Activities, UN Industrial Development Organization, UN Information Centre, UN Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees, World Food Program, World Health Organization, World Meteorological Organization, World Tourism Organization, and World Trade Organization.

Major International Treaties: Indonesia is a party to numerous multilateral conventions, including the Biological Weapons Convention, Chemical Weapons Convention, Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, Geneva Conventions, Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and others. Indonesia also is a signatory to international environmental conventions on Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, and Wetlands, and, as of May 2004, had signed, but not ratified Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol or Marine Life Conservation.

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This series of profiles of foreign nations is part of the Country Studies Program, formerly the Army Area Handbook Program. The profiles offer brief, summarized information on a country’s historical background, geography, society, economy, transportation and telecommunications, government and politics, and national security. In addition to being featured in the front matter of published Country Studies, they are now being prepared as stand-alone reference aides for all countries in the series, as well as for a number of additional countries of interest. The profiles offer reasonably current country information independent of the existence of a recently published Country Study and will be updated annually or more frequently as events warrant.