In Response to Indonesia-US ART, Eko Suwanto Urges Not to Violate the Proclamation Mandate
The Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) between Indonesia and the United States (US) has drawn scrutiny from legislative and academic circles. The agreement is seen as potentially threatening the country’s sovereignty.
Eko Suwanto, Chairman of Commission A of the Yogyakarta DPRD from the PDI Perjuangan faction, criticised the government’s foreign policy direction regarding ART. He assessed that the agreement potentially contradicts the nation’s core values.
“This clearly contradicts the mandate of our founding fathers in the Proclamation of Independence and the Constitution, that colonialism in the world must be abolished. How can we make an agreement that actually diminishes our own sovereignty in front of other nations,” said Eko in a written statement received by detikJogja on Wednesday (6/5/2026).
He emphasised that the spirit of the Indonesian Constitution is world order based on independence and eternal peace, not submission to one country’s interests.
“This forum urges the central government to review the points in ART before truly locking Indonesia in the shadow of a new style of colonialism. Foreign agreements must not betray the Mandate of the Proclamation of Independence of the Republic of Indonesia, Pancasila Ideology, the Constitution, and State Sovereignty,” he stressed.
Meanwhile, Rimawan Pradiptyo, a lecturer at the Faculty of Economics and Business at UGM, stated that ART has the potential to massively violate domestic legal rules.
“Not only the constitution, there are around 117 regulations from laws, presidential decrees, to ministerial regulations that must be revised or newly created if ART is implemented. This is a lot and has systemic impacts,” revealed Rimawan.
According to Rimawan, ART contains very uneven or asymmetric clauses. It is as if we are taken back in a time machine and Indonesia returns to the colonial era like the Treaty of Ternate, Bongaya, or Banten.
He added that in the ART document, Indonesia must report to the United States if it wants to establish trade or digital cooperation with other countries.
“Even digital trade matters must be reported and must not harm US interests. We are like returning to the colonial era where we have no sovereignty,” he asserted.