Crucial historic milestones<\/p>\n
I would like to comment on the legal and political identity of
\nIndonesia, as conceived by the New Delhi Conference on Indonesia
\nof Jan. 20-22, 1949. In The Jakarta Post editions of April 12 and
\n13, 1995, the role and repercussions of this identity were
\neloquently discussed in the articles of Prof. Jai Singh Yadav. In
\nresponse to those articles, it is noteworthy that under the
\nscience of law, with particular reference to International Law
\nand Constitutional Law, the \"Indonesia\" conceived of at that time
\ndiffers remarkably from the nation as it prevails today.<\/p>\n
Three resolutions were adopted on Jan. 22, 1949, by the
\nConference, and Resolution I in paragraph A (2), (3) and (7)
\nobviously referred to the republic that was conceived under the
\nLinggarjati (March 25, 1947) and Renville agreements (Jan. 17-
\nJan. 19, 1948) between the Republic of Indonesia and the
\nNetherlands.<\/p>\n
It must be noted that the territorial extent of the Republic
\nof Indonesia, under the Linggarjati and Renville agreements, was
\nsubstantially circumscribed on the one hand, whereas on the other
\nhand, the Republic of Indonesia was to be incorporated into a
\ncontemplated federal state structure.<\/p>\n
The legal and political identity of Indonesia under paragraph
\nA (7) of Resolution I of the New Delhi Conference was envisaged
\nas that of a federal state. The same federal structure was
\nconceived under the UN Security Council Resolution of Jan. 28,
\n1949.<\/p>\n
Having in view the forthcoming commemoration of the 50th
\nanniversary of the Republic of Indonesia's independence, it seems
\nworthwhile to take a retrospective view of the vital factors
\ninstrumental in effectuating the shift from the federal state
\nsystem (Jan. 1, 1950 to Aug. 15, 1950) to the present unitary
\nstate system stipulated under the 1945 Constitution.<\/p>\n
Within the process of returning to the unitary state system,
\nthe vital factors that must be noted as historic milestones were
\nthe change of the Constitution of the federal state into the
\nProvisional Constitution of RI of 1950, by means of Act No. 7 of
\nAug. 15, 1950, and the Presidential decree of July 5, 1959, which
\ndissolved the Constitutional Assembly and effectuated the return
\nto the 1945 Constitution. This took place after the constituent
\nassembly failed in its cumbersome dilatory toil to enact a new
\nconstitution.<\/p>\n
Among the vital factors, which played a historic role in
\neffecting the track-clearing accommodation between the
\nDutch government and the republican government were the Roem-Van
\nRoijen Statements of May 7, 1949. The accommodation came about
\nthrough the implementation of the UN Security Council Resolution
\nof Jan. 28, 1949, paving the way toward creating a federal State,
\nto which the Netherlands was to transfer sovereignty. The
\nstatements loomed large due to their unique legal implications in
\nthat the official or full-fledged constitutional republican
\ngovernment at that time was not yet restored to Yogyakarta. The
\ncabinet members, along with the president and the vice president,
\nwere still under detention in Bangka by the Dutch authorities at
\nthat time.<\/p>\n
If Anak Agung Gde Agung could accomplish writing a
\ndissertation on the Renville Agreement, I believe that the legal
\nscholars of the younger generation in the nation's universities
\nshould have the opportunity to write dissertations on the legal
\nand political aspects, status, role, and legal impact of the
\nRoem-Van Roijen Statements. These essentially constituted an
\nagreement despite the term \"statement\" that was applied as the
\nresult of traditional legalistic overcautiousness on the part of
\nDutch jurists.<\/p>\n
Finally, the vital factor materialized in the agreement
\nbetween RI and the Netherlands, relating to the transfer of West
\nIrian to RI, signed in the United Nations Headquarters in New
\nYork on Aug. 15, 1962, must not be ignored. The latter episode,
\naccording to the Dutch historian Dr. C. Smit, marked an
\nirrevocable termination of the decolonization process in
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
To Indonesia, this marked the final consummation of the
\nindependence proclaimed on Aug. 17, 1945.<\/p>\n
SAM SUHAEDI<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/crucial-historic-milestones-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }