Acting Presidency Of Suharto

The acting presidency of Suharto followed the transition to the New Order in which Army General Suharto assumed presidential powers to "restore" law and order following the now-disputed attempted coup which led to anti-communist purges. The term lasted from 12 March 1967 until 27 March 1968, when Suharto was officially inaugurated as the definitive President of Indonesia.

Election to the acting presidency

By February 1967, President Sukarno realized that his political career was at an end and he became concerned at cutting his losses. On 7 February, he sent a letter to Suharto saying that he was willing to hand over the running of the government to the General but also added that he would like to continue on as head of state. In the time between the arrival of that letter and the formulation of the reply, the People's Representative Council (DPR) passed a resolution which called for a Special Session of the Provisional People's Consultative Assembly (MPRS). Suharto, accompanied by the commanders of the Navy, Air Force, and Police, met with Sukarno on 11 February to reject his offer and to wait instead for the result of the MPRS Special Session.

On 20 February 1967, Sukarno chose to relinquish all executive power to Suharto whilst still retaining his position as president. Sukarno's decision did not stop the DPR from insisting that the MPRS Special Session go ahead. Originally calling for an MPRS Special Session to be held for the purpose of reviewing Sukarno's performance as well as reaching a final decision on whether or not he was involved with the 30 September Movement (G30S), the DPR now asked that the MPRS Special Session add Suharto's election as acting president to the agenda.

The Special Session was opened on 7 March 1967, located in present-day Istora Gelora Bung Karno. On that day, Suharto delivered a speech absolving Sukarno of any involvement with the G30S. The Special Session now turned on the matter of the presidency. Such was the intensive debate surrounding this matter that the Special Session did not finish on 11 March 1967 as intended but had to go for another extra day. But when the decision was finally made, it was unanimous. On 12 March 1967, the MPRS agreed to withdrew its mandate from Sukarno and remove him as president. Replacing Sukarno, in the capacity of acting president (''Pejabat Presiden'') would be Suharto.

Cabinet

Suharto retained the Ampera Cabinet which had been formed by him in July 1966. He reshuffled this Cabinet in October 1967 and created the Revised Ampera Cabinet.

Home affairs

Legislative elections

The 1966 MPRS General Session passed a resolution calling for legislative elections to be held no later than 5 July 1968 and this became one of the first matters that Suharto attempted to address during his acting presidency. In doing this, he would have to deal with political parties.

For the political parties, the main point of contention was whether the Legislative Election would use the district system or proportional representation. In the previous year, ABRI had expressed interest in the district system and as such handed to the DPR an election bill which favors the district system. The bill was successfully blocked in the DPR as the list of parties not wanting change to the district system included the Indonesian National Party (PNI) and Nahdlatul Ulama (NU). With time running out until the 1968 Legislative Elections, Suharto needed to hammer out a compromise.

Suharto held a series of meetings during the first three months of his acting presidency with the leadership of the political parties. To accommodate the political parties, Suharto backed out of the notion of a district system and began supporting proportional representation; the trade-off being that the Government would be able to appoint some of the DPR members. The breakthrough was made on 25 July 1967 when the political parties agreed that the Legislative Elections will be held using proportional representation, that the Government will appoint 100 MPs out of the 460 in the DPR, and that the Government will appoint 1/3 of the deputies of the new People's Consultative Assembly (MPR).

Despite the breakthrough it quickly became clear that it would be difficult to meet the deadline set by the MPRS. The bill would have to be rewritten and would have to go through the proper procedures before it could be passed. The bill was resubmitted to the DPR on 16 December 1967 but by January 1968, Suharto reported to the Chairman and Vice-Chairmen of the MPRS that it would be impossible to hold a Legislative Election in 1968.

Dealing with Sukarno

The MPRS Resolution which appointed Suharto to the acting presidency also gave him the power to take legal action against Sukarno. Suharto chose not to take any legal action and instead, Sukarno was still allowed to reside at the Presidential Palace and enjoy his freedom. Suharto also continued to insist that Sukarno was still the Head of State. Speaking on 13 March 1967, Suharto insisted that Sukarno was still President and Head of State, although without the political power that came with the office. This state of affairs did not last long. By May, Suharto decided that Sukarno was no longer allowed to use the title of President of the Republic of Indonesia and placed the former President under house arrest at Bogor

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