Team is proposed to find Supersemar text
Team is proposed to find Supersemar text
JAKARTA (JP): A former military commander has proposed that the government set up a special team to find the Supersemar, or 'March 11 Order', a historical document concerning the transfer of power from President Soekarno to President Soeharto in 1966.
Amir Machmud, who is one of three army officers who conveyed the document from Soekarno to Soeharto, made the proposal on Saturday.
The loss of the document had given rise to speculation about its contents, he told journalists attending a celebration of the issuance of the Supersemar.
He said that he was sure the original Supersemar document was not lost, but said he had no idea who had it.
Amir Machmud, together with two other army officers, Basuki Rachmat and Muhammad Yusuf, presented the letter, signed by Soekarno, to Soeharto in 1966. At that time Amir was chief of the Jakarta military command, while Soeharto was head of the Army Strategic Reserve (Kostrad) Command.
Amir said that he, Basuki and Jusuf had given the letter to Soeharto late at night without any discussion and that they had not seen it again since then.
He said that rumors were now spreading among the people that the Supersemar had been none other than a coup d'etat in disguise and that Soekarno had been forced to sign the document by a "third party"; that is, a party other than himself, Basuki Rachmad, and Muhammad Yusuf.
"I will not respond to those rumors. People have the right to speculate. Let history prove which version is right," he said.
Amir, also a one-time minister of home affairs, called on the Indonesian public to forget the bitter episode in which, in 1965, the now-outlawed Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) attempted a coup, as well as its aftermath.
Abdul Haris Nasution, who in 1966 was chairman of the Provisional People's Consultative Assembly (MPRS), also regrets the fact that the document is missing.
"I deplore the loss of the Supersemar document. Everyone must regret it; nobody says alhamdulillah (thank God) about the unfortunate loss."
Nasution said he hoped the government would continue to search for the historical document.
Under Nasution's leadership, the MPRS issued a decree, in 1967, which confirmed the transfer of power as stipulated in the Supersemar and named Soeharto Acting President of the republic. Then, in 1968, the MPRS appointed Soeharto President.
Nasution said that rumors that the Supersemar was a coup d'etat in disguise had been spread by people from foreign countries. "If the authentic document is found, the doubt will be dispelled," he said.(29)