Vice-Presidential Edict No.X
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OR:

Vice Presidential Edict No. X ( id, Maklumat Wakil Presiden No. X) was an
edict An edict is a decree or announcement of a law, often associated with monarchism, but it can be under any official authority. Synonyms include "dictum" and "pronouncement". ''Edict'' derives from the Latin edictum. Notable edicts * Telepinu Proc ...
issued by Indonesian Vice-president
Mohammad Hatta Mohammad Hatta (; 12 August 1902 – 14 March 1980) was an Indonesian statesman and nationalist who served as the country's first vice president. Known as "The Proclamator", he and a number of Indonesians, including the first president of Indone ...
on 16 October 1945 which gave the
Central Indonesian National Committee The Central Indonesian National Committee, ( id, Komite Nasional Indonesia Pusat) or KNIP, was a body appointed to assist the president of the newly independent Indonesia. Originally purely advisory, it later gained assumed legislative functions. ...
(KNIP), initially a purely advisory body, the authority to become the legislative body of the government.


Background

Following the 17 August 1945
Indonesian Declaration of Independence The Proclamation of Indonesian Independence ( id, Proklamasi Kemerdekaan Indonesia, or simply ''Proklamasi'') was read at 10:00 on Friday, 17 August 1945 in Jakarta. The declaration marked the start of the diplomatic and armed resistance of th ...
, on 29 August, the
Central Indonesian National Committee The Central Indonesian National Committee, ( id, Komite Nasional Indonesia Pusat) or KNIP, was a body appointed to assist the president of the newly independent Indonesia. Originally purely advisory, it later gained assumed legislative functions. ...
( id, Komite Nasional Indonesia Pusat, KNIP) was established to replace the
Preparatory Committee for Indonesian Independence The Preparatory Committee for Indonesian Independence ( id, Panitia Persiapan Kemerdekaan Indonesia), PPKI, ja, 独立準備委員会, Dokuritsu Junbi Iinkai, lead=yes) was a body established on 7 August 1945 to prepare for the transfer of auth ...
(PPKI) in line with the transitional provisions of the provisional
Constitution of Indonesia The 1945 State Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia ( id, Undang-Undang Dasar Negara Republik Indonesia Tahun 1945, commonly abbreviated as ''UUD 1945'' or ''UUD '45'') is the supreme law and basis for all laws of Indonesia. The constitu ...
. Under these provisions, the KNIP was an advisory body pending the election of the legislature, the
People's Representative Council The People's Representative Council of the Republic of Indonesia ( id, Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Republik Indonesia, DPR-RI), also known as the House of Representatives, is one of two elected chambers of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), ...
(DPR). However the KNIP had no legislative authority as all power was vested in the hands of the president. It comprised 135 members appointed by President
Sukarno Sukarno). (; born Koesno Sosrodihardjo, ; 6 June 1901 – 21 June 1970) was an Indonesian statesman, orator, revolutionary, and nationalist who was the first president of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967. Sukarno was the leader of ...
aided by Vice-president Hatta, including the entire membership of the PPKI. Resentment over the composition of the
cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...
, which was dominated by men who had cooperated with the Japanese during the
occupation Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, th ...
, and the authoritarian presidential system led to some KNIP members, including former underground figures
Sutan Sjahrir Sutan Sjahrir (5 March 1909 – 9 April 1966) was an Indonesian politician, and revolutionary independence leader, who served as the first Prime Minister of Indonesia, from 1945 until 1947. Previously, he was a key Indonesian nationalist organiz ...
and
Amir Sjarifuddin Amir Sjarifuddin Harahap ( EVO: Amir Sjarifoeddin Harahap; 27 April 1907 – 19 December 1948) was an Indonesian politician and journalist who served as the second prime minister of Indonesia from 1947 until 1948. A major leader of the lef ...
, deciding to establish a more democratic system. On 7 October, a petition with 50 signatures demanding legislative powers for the KNIP was handed to Sukarno and Hatta. Both men agreed to implement this change, and on 16 October Hatta issued an edict on behalf of himself and Sukarno giving the KNIP joint legislative powers with the president. The KNIP was to delegate these powers to a Working Committee comprising members of the KNIP which would meet at least once every ten days.


The edict

The edict read as follows:


Aftermath

On 11 November, the KNIP, demanded the cabinet answer to it, rather to President Sukarno. In response, Sukarno dissolved the cabinet, and on 14 November a new cabinet was announced, with Sjahrir as prime minister and Amir as defense minister. In practice this meant that the 1945 Constitution was suspended, although it officially remained in force.


Numbering

The "X" in the edict does not mean "10". According to Hatta, when the edit was issued, State Secretary Gafar had forgotten to bring the list of numbers used for such documents, so the edit was temporarily numbered "X" until the correct number was determined. However, as the edict was published as "Number X", and as people assumed this was the final title, the State Secretariat felt it was too late to change it.


Notes


References

* * * * * * * {{Cite book , last = Ricklefs, first = M.C. , author-link = M. C. Ricklefs , title = A History of Modern Indonesia Since c.1300 , publisher = MacMillan , location = London, edition = 4th , year = 2008 , orig-year = 1981 , isbn = 978-0-230-54685-1 Government of Indonesia History of Indonesia Indonesian National Revolution 1945 in Indonesia