1987 Indonesian legislative election

Background

In the elections of 1977 and 1982, the notionally Islamic United Development Party (PPP) had seen a steady increase in its share of the vote, despite the New Order government's restrictions on political activity. It managed to position itself as the party of the "little people." In 1984, with the agreement of the government, under the leadership of Abdurrahman Wahid, the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) left the PPP, which it had been forced to join under the 1973 fusion of the Islamic parties.

Later that year, the government obliged all political parties to adopt the state philosophy Pancasila as their ideological basis. In 1985 the PPP was pressured to change the party symbol from the Kaaba, the building at the center of the al-Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, to the star from the official symbol for Pancasila.

In 1987, the NU leadership declared that its members and supporters were "not obliged to vote for the PPP, and not forbidden to vote for Golkar". This had the effect of increasing the influence of the NU, which had been much diminished within the PPP.

Timeline of events

Campaign

Golkar

The priority of Golkar was to secure a majority of the popular vote in the devoutly Islamic province of Aceh, the only province apart from Jakarta where it had failed to do so in 1982. In order to achieve this, Golkar made use of two civil servants to run its financial campaign: the managing director of state-owned oil company Pertamina and the head of the state-owned logistics agency BULOG. Local companies, much more heavily dependent on government contracts then in the past, were the biggest donors. However, the crucial factor for Golkar was the political leadership of Aceh governor Ibrahim Hasan, an economist who managed to unite the traditional and modern aspirations of the Acehnese people. He traveled around the province telling people that a Golkar victory would bring about material development without sacrificing traditional values.

PDI

In the final days of the campaign, thousands of young supporters of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) paraded in Jakarta carrying portraits of former president Sukarno. In their eyes, the anti-Western Sukarno was associated with the Indonesian National Party (PNI), one of the parties forced to fuse into the PDI in 1973, and was therefore a clear symbol of opposition to the pro-Western New Order. During the campaign, the PDI had tried to take a stand against corruption and economic inequality. |File:1987 Indonesian election PPP Campaign.jpg |PPP campaign |File:1987 Indonesian election GOLKAR Campaign.jpg |Golkar campaign |File:1987 Indonesian election PDI Campaign.jpg |PDI campaign

Radio and television campaigns

The government of Indonesia had arranged a campaign for the government-appointed central board of the political parties to speak publicly in the television and radio. The broadcasting rights for this digital campaign were held by the TVRI for the televised campaigns, and the RRI for the radio campaigns. The recording of the campaign was held in the respective studios. Only national and private radios and television were allowed relay the campaign on the whole, while individual and organizational radios and television were not permitted to relay the campaign.

Results

Presidential election

Following the legislative election, the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), the legislative branch of Indonesia, met from 10 to 11 March 1988 to elect both the president and vice president of the country for the 1988–1993 term. On 10 March, Suharto was re-elected president unanimously to a fifth term. Golkar, which had regained its strength after the 1987 election, made the 1988 MPR General Session re-elect Suharto as president. This was certain because Golkar, the party supported by the government, won a landslide victory. This victory certainly had an impact on the results of the 1988 MPR General Session.

Sudharmono, an army general, was subsequently elected vice president on the next day. There was originally a debate about who would be Suharto's vice president. Two of the strongest vice-presidential candidates were Sudharmono and Jaelani Naro. However, the one who was ultimately chosen as Suharto's vice president was Sudharmono. This ended the debate about the vice president between Sudharmono and Jaelani Naro.

President

Vice president

Notes

References

Citations

Sources

• Evans, Kevin Raymond (2003) The History of Political Parties and general Elections in Indonesia Arise Consultancies, Jakarta
• Komisi Pemilihan Umum (General Election Commission) retrieved 6 January 2008
• Liddle, R. William (1994) Pemilu-Pemilu Orde Baru (Elections of the New Order), LP3ES, Jakarta
• Nohlen, Dieter, Grotz, Florian & Hartmann, Christof (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume II
• Schwartz, Adam (1994) A Nation in Waiting: Indonesia in the 1990s, Allen & Unwin.
• Sudibjo, M (Ed) (1995) Pemilihan Umum 1992: Suatu Evaluasi (The 1992 General Election: An Evaluation) Center for Strategic and International Studies, Jakarta.

References

1. Schwartz (1994) p172
2. Liddle (1994) p. 94
3. Liddle (1994) p. 95
4. {{harvnb. General Elections Institution. 1988
5. Liddle (1994) p. 96
6. Evans (2003)
7. Liddle (1994) p. 97
8. Liddle (1994) p. 98
9. {{harvnb. General Elections Institution. 1988
10. {{harvnb. General Elections Institution. 1988
11. {{harvnb. General Elections Institution. 1988
12. Liddle (1994) p. 92
13. Nohlen ''et al''., pp100, 115
14. Liddle (1994) p. 99