Life of an Indonesian President

Sukarno was the first president of Indonesia
He helped the country win its independence from the Netherlands and was President from 1945 to 1967
Sukarno became a leader of a pro-independence party, Partai Nasional Indonesia when it was founded in 1927
He opposed imperialism and capitalism because he thought both systems worsened the life of Indonesian people
He was influenced by Marxism, Islam, and nationalism in dealing with his political philosophy
He hated his figurehead position and called for democracy
- Guided Democracy, based on Indonesian principles
- Deciding important questions = prolonged deliberation
- Based not only on political parties but also "functional groups" - national consensus could express itself under the guidance of a president
- This made him rely heavily on the army and communist party
Established ties with the US after impressive victories and the downing of a US pilot
Overthrow of Sukarno:
- Some anti-communists were kidnapped and killed
- This brought retaliation from Major General Suharto and he along with followers began killing off anyone involved with the Communist party (half a million killed!)
- Sukarno's grip of power was loosened in this crisis and Suharto's was strengthened
- In March of 1966, Suharto forced Sukarno to hand over all executive powers to him in order to keep the peace
- Sukarno was stripped of his presidential power and placed on house arrest until his death

President Sukarno

Sukarno and guided democracy