The Presidential Cabinet (Indonesian: Kabinet Presidensial) was the first cabinet established by Indonesia following the 17 August 1945 Indonesian Declaration of Independence. It comprised 20 ministers and four officials. Its term of office ran from 2 September to 14 November 1945.
Background
Indonesian had been under Japanese occupation since 1942, but by 1943, realizing they were losing the war, the Japanese appointed Indonesian advisors (Japanese: 参与, romanized: san'yo) to the administration and appointed nationalist leader Sukarno leader of a new Central Advisory Board (Chuo Sani-kaiJapanese: 中央参議会) in Jakarta.[1] On 7 August, the day after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, the Preparatory Committee for Indonesian Independence (Indonesian: Panitia Persiapan Kemerdekaan Indonesia) or PPKI was established. Sukarno was chairman, and Hatta vice-chairman. On 19 August 1945, this body created 12 ministries for Indonesia's first cabinet. The cabinet as formed contained sanyo as well as officials who had not worked with the Japanese. The cabinet was responsible to President Sukarno.[2][3]
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Dr. Kusumah Atmaja
Attorney General: Gatot Tarunamihardja
State Secretary: Abdoel Affar Pringgodigdo
State Spokesman: Soekarjo Wirjopranoto
Changes
On 22 September 1945, Finance Minister Samsi was replaced by A. A. Maramis on health grounds. In a government decree on 6 October, Soeprijadi, a hero of the Blitar rebellion against the occupying Japanese, was officially appointed Defense Minister. However, as no news was ever heard of him, on 20 October Muhammad Soeljoadikusuma was appointed ad interim Defense Minister. Attorney General Gatot Tarunamihardja resigned on 24 October. As a temporary measure, Chief JusticeKusumah Atmaja was appointed acting Attorney General. Kasman Singodiedjo was appointed to the post on 7 November.
The end of the cabinet
On 11 November 1945, the Central Indonesian National Committee, which was the de facto legislature, demanded the cabinet be responsible to it, not to President Sukarno. Sukarno agreed to this and dismissed the cabinet.[4]
References
Kahin, George McTurnan (1952). Nationalism and Revolution in Indonesia. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press.
Ricklefs (1982), A History of Modern Indonesia, Macmillan Southeast Asian reprint, ISBN0-333-24380-3
Simanjuntak, P. N. H. (2003), Kabinet-Kabinet Republik Indonesia: Dari Awal Kemerdekaan Sampai Reformasi (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Djambatan, pp. 15–23, ISBN979-428-499-8.