17 October affair

The 17 October affair on 17 October 1952 was a show of force event where elements of the Indonesian Army, led by Chief of Staff Abdul Haris Nasution, surrounded the Merdeka Palace to demand the disbanding of the Provisional People's Representative Council.

Background

During the early 1950s, the newly independent Indonesian government faced a fiscal crisis due to a drop in government revenues and current account deficits. In response to this, government officials under the Wilopo Cabinet began cutting down on expenses including civilian and military servicemen, which would include 60,000 soldiers being retired. Demobilization after the Indonesian National Revolution had been occurring in the past, but not many had been forcefully retired. Beyond the demobilization, the Indonesian Army had also been undergoing a "reorganization" program involving many demotions or transfers of local military commanders, which was unpopular among them.[1] This generally split the army into two factions: those who preferred reorganization and worked with the civilian administration's budget reduction programs, and the traditional military officers at risk of reorganization, including many officers trained by Japanese occupation forces prior to independence,[2] under the PETA organization.[3] This reorganization process had been coordinated by the Army's leadership, including Armed Forces Chief Tahi Bonar Simatupang and Army Chief of Staff Abdul Haris Nasution.[4]

For 1952, three-quarters of the Army's budget was spent on salaries, limiting the number of purchasable equipment for renewal and even then the salary allocations were minimal.[5] In mid-1952, the army reorganizers decided to begin a demobilization which would reduce 80,000 soldiers out of 200,000 at that time, to begin in late that year. While pensions would be provided, the plan was unpopular among many of the rank and file to be discharged, and among the traditional officers.[2] These traditional officers had strong connections with President Sukarno's Indonesian National Party (PNI) and other opposition parties. Sukarno himself had been opposed to many of the changes which occurred in the army, and had on occasion intervened on the personnel policy.[6] Between June and July 1952, one Colonel Bambang Supeno, a distant relative of Sukarno's, began to gather support to petition for the removal of Nasution from army leadership. After a tense meeting of regional commanders and a letter from Supeno criticizing his superiors to the civilian government, he was removed from his post on 17 July.[7]

Events

Impact
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References
  1. Feith 2006, pp. 246-248.
  2. Feith 2006, p. 249.
  3. Feith 2009, p. 123.
  4. Feith 2009, p. 128.
  5. Feith 2009, p. 129.
  6. Feith 2006, p. 250.
  7. Feith 2009, p. 131.

Bibliography
  • Feith, Herbert (2006). The Decline of Constitutional Democracy in Indonesia. Equinox Publishing. ISBN 978-979-3780-45-0.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Feith, Herbert (2009). The Wilopo Cabinet, 1952-1953: A Turning Point in Post-Revolutionary Indonesia. Equinox Publishing. ISBN 978-602-8397-15-5.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • McVey, Ruth (1971). "The Post-Revolutionary Transformation of the Indonesian Army". Indonesia (11): 131–176. doi:10.2307/3350748. ISSN 0019-7289. JSTOR 3350748.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Nasution, Abdul Haris (2013). Peristiwa 17 Oktober 1952: ketika "moncong" meriam mengarah ke istana (in Indonesian). Narasi. ISBN 978-979-16831-1-1.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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