Sartono | |||||||||||||||||
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.jpg) Official portrait,c. 1954 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1st Speaker of the House of Representatives | |||||||||||||||||
| In office 23 February 1950 – 24 June 1960 | |||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Office established | ||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Zainul Arifin | ||||||||||||||||
| President of Indonesia | |||||||||||||||||
Acting | |||||||||||||||||
| In office 21 April 1959 – 2 July 1959 | |||||||||||||||||
| In office 6 January 1959 – 21 February 1959 | |||||||||||||||||
| In office c. December 1957 | |||||||||||||||||
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| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1900-08-05)5 August 1900 Wonogiri,Dutch East Indies | ||||||||||||||||
| Died | 15 October 1968(1968-10-15) (aged 68) Jakarta, Indonesia | ||||||||||||||||
| Resting place | Astana Bibis Luhur | ||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Indonesian National Party (1927–1931; 1945–1968) | ||||||||||||||||
| Other political affiliations | |||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | |||||||||||||||||
| Children | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | Leiden University (Mr.) | ||||||||||||||||
| Occupation |
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| Signature |  | ||||||||||||||||
Sartono (5 August 1900 – 15 October 1968) was an Indonesian politician and lawyer who served as the firstspeaker of theHouse of Representatives (DPR) from 1950 until his resignation in 1960. He also served asacting president several times in his capacity as speaker following the resignation ofMohammad Hatta. Born into aJavanese family ofnoble blood, Sartono studied law atLeiden University. During his studies, he joined thePerhimpoenan Indonesia association and became an advocate forIndonesian independence. After graduating, he opened a law practice and helped found theIndonesian National Party (PNI) in 1927. He unsuccessfully defended the party's leaders when they were arrested by thecolonial government in 1929.
Following the arrests, the PNI disbanded and Sartono founded a new party,Partindo, which sought to achieve independence through non-cooperation. However, Partindo was dissolved in 1936. He then helped found another party,Gerindo, which advocated for the creation of anIndonesian parliament. In 1942,Japan invaded the colony and Sartono briefly left politics before returning asgeneral-secretary of a Japan-founded labor organization,Putera, a year later. He also served in several positions during theJapanese occupation period, including as a member of theCentral Advisory Council andInvestigating Committee for Preparatory Work for Independence.
After theproclamation of independence in 1945, he was appointed astate minister in thePresidential Cabinet by PresidentSukarno. As minister, he was dispatched to theYogyakarta Sultanate andSurakarta Sunanate to shore up support for the nationalist government. During the subsequentnational revolution, he became a member of theCentral Indonesian National Committee (KNIP), serving in the KNIP's working body which ran its day-to-day affairs. In 1949, he became an advisor to the Indonesian delegation of theDutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference before being elected speaker of theDPR of theUnited States of Indonesia in February 1950.
Sartono would go on to serve as speaker throughout the entireliberal democracy period, being re-elected in August 1950, when theProvisional DPR was formed, and again in1956, following the1955 elections. In 1951, he was tasked with forming a new government following the fall of theNatsir Cabinet. He, however, failed to form a government after less than a month. In 1960, the DPR was suspended by Sukarno following its rejection of thegovernment’s budget. Deeply embittered by the suspension, he resigned from the DPR and did not take public office for several years. In 1962, Sartono accepted an offer by Sukarno to serve as the deputy chairman of theSupreme Advisory Council (DPA). His time in the body "confused and irritated him,"[1] and he resigned from the DPA in 1968. He died inJakarta, on 15 October 1968, and was buried at Astana Bibis Luhur,Surakarta.
Sartono was born inWonogiri, near what is todaySurakarta, on 5 August 1900.[2] Born to anoble ethnic-Javanese family, he was the second oldest of seven children. His father, Raden Mas Martodikarjo, was acivil servant who was a descendant of PrinceMangkunegara II. His mother was a noblewomen, who was a descendant of Prince Mangkunegara III.[3][4] In 1906, he left Wonogiri and began his education at theEuropeesche Lagere School in Surakarta, a school only for children of noble descent. There, he graduated in 1913, with the highest grade. After graduating, he was accepted to theMeer Uitgebreid Lager Onderwijs (MULO) school also in Surakarta.[5] Sartono spent three years in MULO, from 1913 until 1916, and after graduating, he left forBatavia.[6][7] In Batavia, he entered theSchool tot Opleiding voor Inlandsche Rechtskundigen, later known as theRechts School, a law institute for the native Indonesian nobility.[8][9]
AtRechts School, he joined theTri Koro Dharmo organization, a youth organization ofBudi Utomo, which later evolved intoJong Java.[10] In 1921, he passed in his law examination, and received the title of "rechtskundige" (jurist). After graduating, he became a civil servant at the District Court in Surakarta for around six months.[11] In September 1922, Sartono left his job as a civil servant, and departed to the Netherlands, to study for adoctorate in law atLeiden University, along with his former classmateIwa Koesoemasoemantri. The pair departed from Surakarta to the port ofTanjung Priok, the main hub for transportation from the colony toEurope.[12] They arrived inGenoa,Italy, before taking the train to theNetherlands.[13] During his studies in Leiden, he joined thePerhimpoenan Indonesia association, and became the associations secretary from 1922 until 1925.[14][15]
After completing his studies, Sartono returned to the Indies in 1925, and opened a law practice in the city ofBandung,[2] together with his friends from Leiden (includingIskaq Tjokrohadisurjo, Budiarto Martoatmodjo, andSoenario). The young advocates were successful in handling the legal actions of Dutch authorities.[16] One notable case they handled was the trial of a man named Jasin, who was atrain conductor fromTasikmalaya. Jasin was accused of being part of the failed1926 communist revolt. As a result of Sartono's defense, Jasin's punishment was lightened, but he was still found guilty, and exiled to theBoven-Digoel concentration camp, inWest New Guinea.[17] Sartono later participated in the founding of theIndonesian National Party (PNI) at Bandung on 4 July 1927.[18] Following the 1929 PNI congress inYogyakarta, he was appointed astreasurer of the party.[19] He also became the legal adviser during the second Indonesian youth congress in 1928 – which resulted in theYouth Pledge.[20]
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In 1930, the Dutch colonial government arrested four of the PNI's leaders, and later sentenced them to prison time.[21] Sartono was not arrested, and instead he became one ofSukarno's defense lawyers during Sukarno's trials in Bandung.[22] In 1931, Sartono founded thePartindo party, after the disbanding of the PNI. During his leadership of Partindo, he created a department forlabor unions, which Sartono directly managed. Despite this, Sartono argued that labor unions should not engage in politics.[23] Sartono led Partindo until 1933, when the released Sukarno was elected the party chief and Sartono became his deputy.[24][21] Around the same period, theSwadeshi movement inColonial India began capturing the attention of the many politically active Indonesians.[25] This included Sartono, who became an advocate for the movement, and also chaired a commission on the movement within Partindo.[26]
After Sukarno's election as leader, however, Sukarno's view that labor unions should be associated with political parties became dominant – and in 1933, the party's official position became that labor unions must be based on political parties.[27] Partindo was again disbanded in 1937, and Sartono further took part in the founding of another party, Gerindo, where he was deputy chief underAmir Syarifuddin.[14][28] He also remained a lawyer, successfully defending another nationalistKasman Singodimedjo in a 1940 case.[29] Following the successfulJapanese invasion of Indonesia, Sartono briefly left politics and handled rubber plantations in theBogor region.[30] He was also head of the organizational section of the Japan-founded labor organizationPutera and a member of the JavaneseCentral Advisory Council, also set up the occupation government. In 1945, he was appointed as a member of theInvestigating Committee for Preparatory Work for Independence.[30] For some time, he was also the adviser to the Japanese Department of Internal Affairs between December 1944 until June 1945.[14][31]
Shortly after theproclamation of Indonesian independence, Sartono was appointed as one of five ministers of state (alongsideOto Iskandar di Nata, Mohammad Amir,Wahid Hasyim, andA.A. Maramis).[32] Sartono and Maramis were dispatched to Central Java's traditional monarchies (theSurakarta Sunanate andYogyakarta Sultanate) to give assurances that the monarchies would remain in exchange for support of the new nationalist government.[33] On 19 August 1945, he took part in a meeting which resulted in the agreement to form theCentral Indonesian National Committee (KNIP).[34] Sartono also rejoined the reformed Sukarno-led PNI.[35] The party had significant internal issues due to personal and ideological differences of its members, withMohammad Hatta remarking in an interview with Irish historianBenedict Anderson that Sartono andAbikusno Tjokrosujoso had internal conflicts almost immediately after its founding.[36]
In December 1945, he became chief of the political department of a further restructured PNI.[37] Sartono was a member of the KNIP and was part of its leadership until October 1945, when the leadership was replaced by a new group of younger members.[38] Later, he would return to the leadership positions, becoming deputy chair of the body's Working Committee (which ran day-to-day affairs) by January 1947.[39] He lost the position in an election in April 1947, but was voted back in July 1949.[40] He left the body in 1949 as he joined thePeople's Representative Council of the United States of Indonesia (DPR-RIS).[41] He had been appointed as the head of a good offices mission to theState of East Indonesia in December 1948, but the mission was cancelled.[2][42] During theDutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference, Sartono also served as a general adviser for the Indonesian delegation.[42]
_di_Republik_Indonesia%2c_p83.jpg)
Following the Dutch recognition of Indonesian sovereignty, Sartono joined the DPR-RIS, and was elected as the body's speaker on 21 February 1950, after defeatingMohammad Yamin andAlbert Mangaratua Tambunan in theleadership vote, taking office the following day.[43] Six months later, on 16 August, the body was dissolved as theUnited States of Indonesia was transformed into a unitary state, and all its members became members of the newly formedProvisional People's Representative Council (DPRS).[44] Sartono was again elected speaker of the body on its 19 August leadership vote.[45] Sartono was appointed asformateur for the government cabinet on 28 March 1951 following the fall of theNatsir Cabinet, and he attempted to form a coalition government between the PNI and theMasyumi.[46][47] However, his efforts were thwarted due to policy differences between the two parties - namely, on taxation, local government, and theWest New Guinea dispute.[48]
This was made worse by Sartono's unwillingness to become the prime minister or any cabinet minister.[48] His failure led to him returning his mandate after less than a month on 18 April. The task was then assigned toSoekiman Wirjosandjojo andSidik Djojosukarto – who managed to form theSukiman Cabinet.[49] During theWilopo Cabinet period, Sartono called for the resignation ofHamengkubuwono IX as Defense Minister in the aftermath of the17 October affair.[50] Due to the government dysfunction caused by constant tensions between government and opposition parties in the parliament, Sartono went as far as to warn legislators in December 1953 that the parliament may be dissolved if tensions continued to increase.[51] By 1955,the election saw highly divisive campaigning, and Sartono made a public statement asking political parties to "not forget good manners" when referring to one another.[52]
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In 1956, there were proposals in the parliament to dissolve theNetherlands-Indonesian Union. A draft law was brought up during a 28 February 1956 meeting of the body, and following a vote it was accepted as agenda in the day's meeting.[53] Sartono, who disagreed with the draft's inclusion, declared his resignation from speakership and walked out of the building, followed by his deputyArudji Kartawinata and the PNI faction. On 1 March, members of the PNI, theIndonesian Islamic Union Party and the PKI, in addition to some members of theNahdlatul Ulama submitted their resignations as members of the parliament.[53] Still in March, Sartono secured a seat representingCentral Java in the new People's Representative Council (DPR) as a result of the 1955 election.[2] Members of the body were sworn in on 20 March 1956, with the DPRS being dissolved, and Sartono was again elected as speaker.[54]
Following the resignation of Mohammad Hatta from his post as vice president (leaving it vacant until 1973),[55] Sartono was legally second in the presidential line of succession, and he conducted presidential duties for three brief periods during his tenure - in December 1957, between 6 January and 21 February 1959, and between 21 April and 2 July 1959.[56] On 23 July 1959, followingPresident Sukarno's 1959 Decree, and the return to the1945 Constitution, Sartono was sworn again as the speaker of the further renewed DPR.[57] The DPR was eventually suspended by Sukarno on 24 June 1960 (though it met last on 5 March), ending Sartono's tenure as speaker.[58] After the DPR was suspended, Sartono did not take public office for several years. Allegedly, he refused all positions offered to him, though in one occasion he implied to Foreign MinisterSubandrio that he would accept an ambassadorship for an African country – with the condition that Subandrio himself and Mohammad Yamin were both also assigned to similar positions.[59]
After several years of being unemployed, Sartono accepted an offer by Sukarno to serve in theSupreme Advisory Council (DPA), as the body's vice speaker in 1962.[60] Throughout his time in the parliament – and during his time at DPA – Sartono pushed with little success laws meant to strengthen the government's financial accountability. American scholarDaniel Lev wrote that Sartono's experience in the body "was a great disappointment to him".[59] He eventually resigned from the DPA and left politics entirely in 1967. He died inJakarta on 15 October 1968, and was buried in Surakarta.[43] According to author and historian, Nyak Wali Alfa Tirta, Sartono was a quiet, but well liked person, by both his opponents and friends.[61] The city government of Surakarta, along with the Mangkunegaran family foundation, have campaigned to make Sartono aNational Hero of Indonesia.[62] A street in the city ofMalang is named after him.[63]
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| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by Office established | Speaker of the People's Representative Council 1950 – 1960 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
