The reason there is no Soeharto’s name in the March 1 Presidential Decree signed by Jokowi

Name of the Second President of the Republic of Indonesia Suharto not listed in Presidential Decree Number 2 of 2022 concerning the Day of State Sovereignty Enforcement as a party that plays a role in March 1st General Offensive 1949.

Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Mahfud MD reasoned that the Presidential Decree signed by the President Jokowi it was not a history book that had to include the names of the parties involved in the March 1st General Offensive, 1949. However, he made sure that Suharto’s name remained in the history of the event.

“This is the president’s decision about the crucial point of the event, which is a very important day. This is not a history book, if a history book would mention the names of many people,” Mahfud said in a video caption, Thursday (3/3).

Mahfud explained that the Presidential Decree only mentioned figures who acted as initiators and drivers of the March 1, 1949 General Offensive, namely President Soekarno, Vice President Mohammad Hatta, Minister of Defense Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono IX, and Commander General Sudirman.

According to the former chairman of the Constitutional Court (MK), the names of Suharto and other figures involved in the history were not included. He said that this was similar to the text of the Declaration of Independence signed by Soekarno-Hatta.

“It’s the same as the text of the Proclamation of Independence on August 17, 1945, that there were many countries. When talking about BPUPKI, there were 64 people, 60 members, there was a chairman, deputy chairman, and so on, but only two proclamations were mentioned, namely Soekarno and Hatta.

“If everything is called history, for example, in the March 1 General Offensive, all dates are mentioned, preparations from here and then a plane passes, turn left, right, that’s history,” he added.

Mahfud also emphasized that the historical traces of Suharto’s involvement in the March 1, 1949 General Offensive were not lost even though they were not included in the Presidential Decree. The reason is that the names of Suharto and other visible figures remain in academic text books.

“Traces of history are not lost and are written in this book. Even on one page, Pak Harto’s name was written twice, so no trace of history was lost,” explained Mahfud.

The Central Executive Board (DPP) of the Berkarya Party questioned the Presidential Decree because it did not include Suharto as a figure who played a role in the General Offensive of March 1, 1949.

The Secretary General of the Berkarya Party, Priyo Budi Santoso, asked all parties not to erase history. Apart from General Sudirman and Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono, according to him there was the name Suharto in the General Offensive incident on March 1, 1949.

“Don’t erase history. No one, in any name, can erase history,” said Priyo to CNNIndonesia.comWednesday (2/3).

However, Priyo admitted that he had no objection to Suharto’s missing name on the list. His party also will not propose corrections for errors in the Presidential Decree on the determination of State Sovereignty Day.

(dmr/gil)

[Gambas:Video CNN]

–