Murba Party
Encyclopedia
Murba Party was a 'national communist
' political party
in Indonesia
. The party was founded by Tan Malaka
's followers in 1948. The history of the party was largely intertwined with that of the powerful Communist Party of Indonesia
(PKI). Initially relations between PKI and the Murba Party were fluid, but gradually the two parties developed into each others' arch-enemies. The Murba Party continued to exist under the New Order
, but was merged into the Indonesian Democratic Party
in 1973.
had resulted in a severe backlash for the PKI. Across Java
(except in Bantam
), a political vacuum emerged on the political left. The followers of Tan Malaka sought to capitalize on this, and on October 3, 1948 the three main constituents of the Tan Malaka-led Revolutionary People's Movement (GRR); the People's Party, Poor People's Party and the Independent Labour Party of Indonesia, declared that they would merge to form the unitary Murba Party. The merger was to be completed on November 7, 1948, the anniversary of the Russian Revolution. The constitution of the party was declared on November 12, 1948. At the time of its foundation the new party had around 80,000 members. The GRR continued to exist separately though, with the Murba Party as one of its affiliates.
Whilst Tan Malaka was highly influential in the party, he wasn't formally the leader of the party. At the time of the merger a leadership was formed consisting of Sukarni (president), Sjamsu Harja Udaja (general secretary), Maruto Nitimihardjo (vice president), Sutan Dewanis (second vice president) and Pandu Karta Wiguna (secretary). The Murba Party published two official newspapers, Murba and Massa. Furthermore there were guerrilla units linked to the party, which played an important role in the struggle against Dutch rule in West
and Central Java
.
. The party appealed to ex-guerrillas and workers, who were dissatisfied with post-independence developments. Herbert Feith
labelled the profile of the party as 'extreme nationalism and messianic social radicalism (whose inchoateness was only mildly tempered by the Marxist and Leninist theory to which it laid claim), it was a citadel of "oppositionism", the politics of refusing to recognize the practical difficulties of governments'.
The Murba Party was secular
, and wary of the possibility of increased Islam
ic influence in government.
, a broad coalition initiated by PKI that soon became non-functional. During the following year, PKI-Murba relations improved significantly. At the time, Murba guerrilla units stil roamed in West Java and held some territories under their control.
In February 1952, the party supported a parliamentary motion calling for the opening of diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union
. The party obtained 199,588 votes (0.53% of the national vote), and won two seats from Java in the People's Representative Council
(down from four seats prior to the elections). After the election, the Murba Party MPs joined the National Progressive Fraction
, a body of ten MPs from Java. In the 1955 Constituent Assembly election
, the party obtained 248,633 votes (0.66%) and four seats in the assembly.
introduced Guided Democracy in 1957, the Murba Party was the first to declare its outright support to the plan. The Murba Party became one of ten parties that were legal under the Guided Democracy. The Murba Party were highly supportive of President Sukarno during this period, and repeatedly sought to gain Sukarno's confindence and convince him to turn against the PKI. The Murba Party politician and Minister of Education Priyono, became the head of the Guided Democracy Committee.
During the 1958 Revolutionary Government of the Republic of Indonesia
(PRRI) rebellion, Murba Party cadres were seized by PRRI rebels and held at the Muara Labuh detention camp in West Sumatra
.
Adam Malik
, one of the founding leaders of the Murba Party, was named as the Indonesian ambassador to the Soviet Union and Poland. In 1960 Chaerul Saleh
of the Murba Party became chairman of the National Council. He also came to serve as chairman of the National Front.
, the Murba Party voiced its support for Cuba
and declared that the party was willing to send volunteers to help the Cubans.
In 1959 the Murba Party had declared that China
was the state in the Socialist Bloc with whom it felt closest affinity but with the PKI-Soviet in 1963, the Murba Party reoriented itself towards building relations with the Soviet Union instead. Once it was clear that PKI had sided with the Communist Party of China
in the Sino-Soviet split
, one sector of the Murba Party began to negotiate with the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
regarding the possibility that the Murba-led mass organizations could replace PKI mass organizations in pro-Soviet international communist structures. The Murba Party, on its behalf, began calling for the inclusion of the Soviet Union
into the Afro-Asian fraternity. These contacts were aided by the fact that the Murba leader Adam Malik had been stationed as ambassador in Moscow. In 1963 Adam Malik returned to Indonesia, and became Minister of Trade.
, seeking support from President Sukarno for the idea. The underlying purpose of the plan was to eliminate PKI as an independent political force. Parties like the Indonesian National Party
and Nahdatul Ulama
protested against the proposal, and in the end the Murba Party failed to convince Sukarno to endorse the proposal. However, the proposal did gain some quiet support from sectors of the army. Later the same year, when President Sukarno expressed his willingness to include PKI in the government, the Murba Party was one of the parties which voiced its opposition.
During this period, the Murba Party was publicly targeted by the PKI. In its anti-price hike mass campaigns the PKI singled out the Murba Party ministers Adam Malik
and Chaerul Saleh as responsibles. Issues that had aroused the fury of the PKI were the alliances of the Murba Party with anti-Communist
sectors and anti-Sukarno army officers, the support of the Murba Party for U.S. film imports and the covert Soviet-Murba contacts.
concept of Sukarno's Guided Democracy. Sukarno believed that the BPS campaign had been manipulated by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency
.
Following the 'freezing' of the Murba Party, PKI continued ferocious attacks on the party. PKI declared that the Murba Party was a party of 'Trotsky
ites' and 'imperialist
agents'. Demands were raised that the Murba Party ministers be expelled from the government, pro-Murba newspapers be closed and that Murba Party members be expelled from the journalists' union and other semi-official structures.
Under Suharto's rule, the surviving political parties of the 'Old Order' were pressured to consolidate themselves into two political blocs, one Islamic and one 'secular'. The Murba Party was included in the latter category and in March 1970 the Democratic Development Group (Kelompok Persatuan Pembangunan) was formed, consisting of the Murba Party, Indonesian National Party
(PNI), the League of Upholders of Indonesian Independence (IPKI), the Catholic Party and the Indonesian Christian Party (Parkindo).
The Murba Party took part in the 1971 parliamentary election
. The party got 48,126 votes nationwide (0.1%), and failed to win any seats.
On January 10, 1973 the Murba Party and the other members of the Democratic Development Group merged into the Indonesian Democratic Party
.
National communism
The term National Communism describes the ethnic minority communist currents that arose in the former Russian Empire after Vladimir Lenin's Bolshevik Party seized power in October 1917....
' political party
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
in Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
. The party was founded by Tan Malaka
Tan Malaka
Tan Malaka was an Indonesian nationalist activist and communist leader. A staunch critic of both the colonial Dutch East Indies government and the republican Sukarno administration that governed the country after the Indonesian National Revolution, he was also frequently in conflict with the...
's followers in 1948. The history of the party was largely intertwined with that of the powerful Communist Party of Indonesia
Communist Party of Indonesia
The Communist Party of Indonesia was the largest non-ruling communist party in the world prior to being crushed in 1965 and banned the following year.-Forerunners:...
(PKI). Initially relations between PKI and the Murba Party were fluid, but gradually the two parties developed into each others' arch-enemies. The Murba Party continued to exist under the New Order
New Order (Indonesia)
The New Order is the term coined by former Indonesian President Suharto to characterize his regime as he came to power in 1966. Suharto used this term to contrast his rule with that of his predecessor, Sukarno...
, but was merged into the Indonesian Democratic Party
Indonesian Democratic Party
The Indonesian Democratic Party was one of the two state-approved parties during the New Order era of the late 20th-century in Indonesia.-Origins:...
in 1973.
Founding
The 1948 Madiun AffairMadiun Affair
The Madiun Affair was a communist uprising in 1948 during the Indonesian National Revolution in the town of Madiun. Leftist parties led an uprising against the leaders of the newly-declared Indonesian Republic, but it was quashed by Republican forces....
had resulted in a severe backlash for the PKI. Across Java
Java
Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...
(except in Bantam
Bantam
Bantam may refer to:* Bantam , a small variety of poultry* Bantamweight, a weight class in boxing-Places:* Bantam , a city and former sultanate on Java island, in Indonesia...
), a political vacuum emerged on the political left. The followers of Tan Malaka sought to capitalize on this, and on October 3, 1948 the three main constituents of the Tan Malaka-led Revolutionary People's Movement (GRR); the People's Party, Poor People's Party and the Independent Labour Party of Indonesia, declared that they would merge to form the unitary Murba Party. The merger was to be completed on November 7, 1948, the anniversary of the Russian Revolution. The constitution of the party was declared on November 12, 1948. At the time of its foundation the new party had around 80,000 members. The GRR continued to exist separately though, with the Murba Party as one of its affiliates.
Whilst Tan Malaka was highly influential in the party, he wasn't formally the leader of the party. At the time of the merger a leadership was formed consisting of Sukarni (president), Sjamsu Harja Udaja (general secretary), Maruto Nitimihardjo (vice president), Sutan Dewanis (second vice president) and Pandu Karta Wiguna (secretary). The Murba Party published two official newspapers, Murba and Massa. Furthermore there were guerrilla units linked to the party, which played an important role in the struggle against Dutch rule in West
West Java
West Java , with a population of over 43 million, is the most populous and most densely populated province of Indonesia. Located on the island of Java, it is slightly smaller in area than densely populated Taiwan, but with nearly double the population...
and Central Java
Central Java
Central Java is a province of Indonesia. The administrative capital is Semarang. It is one of six provinces on the island of Java.This province is the province of high Human Development in Indonesia and its Points Development Index countries is equivalent to Lebanon. The province of Central Java...
.
Political profile
Although far smaller than the PKI, the Murba Party constituted an important rival to it. The leadership of the Murba Party was largely made up by leaders of mass movements. The young men who led Murba had often been leaders of guerrillas or mass struggles against the Japanese occupationJapanese Occupation of Indonesia
The Japanese Empire occupied Indonesia, known then as the Dutch East Indies, during World War II from March 1942 until after the end of War in 1945...
. The party appealed to ex-guerrillas and workers, who were dissatisfied with post-independence developments. Herbert Feith
Herbert Feith
Herbert Feith was an Australian academic and world leading scholar of Indonesian politics.-Background:Born in Vienna, Austria in 1930, Feith witnessed oppression of the Jews and witnessed Kristallnacht in 1938 at the age of 7. He came to Australia as a refugee in 1939 with his Austrian Jewish...
labelled the profile of the party as 'extreme nationalism and messianic social radicalism (whose inchoateness was only mildly tempered by the Marxist and Leninist theory to which it laid claim), it was a citadel of "oppositionism", the politics of refusing to recognize the practical difficulties of governments'.
The Murba Party was secular
Secularism
Secularism is the principle of separation between government institutions and the persons mandated to represent the State from religious institutions and religious dignitaries...
, and wary of the possibility of increased Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic influence in government.
Early 1950s
In March 1951 the party joined the Consultative Body of Political PartiesConsultative Body of Political Parties
The Consultative Body of Political Parties was a loose coalition of political parties in Indonesia. A preparatory meeting, which would lead to the formation of BPP, was held on February 27, 1951. The BPP was officially launched on March 31, 1951, and a Common Programme adopted. The BPP Common...
, a broad coalition initiated by PKI that soon became non-functional. During the following year, PKI-Murba relations improved significantly. At the time, Murba guerrilla units stil roamed in West Java and held some territories under their control.
In February 1952, the party supported a parliamentary motion calling for the opening of diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
1955 elections
The Murba Party suffered a stark setback in the 1955 legislative electionIndonesian legislative election, 1955
Indonesia's first parliamentary general election was held on 29 September 1955. The candidates were seeking to be elected to the 257-seat People's Representative Council, which would replace the existing provisional legislature...
. The party obtained 199,588 votes (0.53% of the national vote), and won two seats from Java in the People's Representative Council
People's Representative Council
The People's Representative Council , sometimes referred to as the House of Representatives, is one of two elected national legislative assemblies in Indonesia....
(down from four seats prior to the elections). After the election, the Murba Party MPs joined the National Progressive Fraction
National Progressive Fraction
The National Progressive Fraction was a parliamentary group in the Indonesian People's Representative Council, formed after the 1955 parliamentary election. The group consisted of ten Members of Parliament, all elected from Java.Members;*Murba Party...
, a body of ten MPs from Java. In the 1955 Constituent Assembly election
Indonesian Constituent Assembly election, 1955
Constitutional Assembly elections were held in Indonesia on 15 December 1955. The Indonesian Provisional Constitution of 1950 had provided for the establishment of a democratically elected Constitutional Assembly to draw up a permanent constitution. In April 1953 the legislature passed the election...
, the party obtained 248,633 votes (0.66%) and four seats in the assembly.
Guided Democracy
When President SukarnoSukarno
Sukarno, born Kusno Sosrodihardjo was the first President of Indonesia.Sukarno was the leader of his country's struggle for independence from the Netherlands and was Indonesia's first President from 1945 to 1967...
introduced Guided Democracy in 1957, the Murba Party was the first to declare its outright support to the plan. The Murba Party became one of ten parties that were legal under the Guided Democracy. The Murba Party were highly supportive of President Sukarno during this period, and repeatedly sought to gain Sukarno's confindence and convince him to turn against the PKI. The Murba Party politician and Minister of Education Priyono, became the head of the Guided Democracy Committee.
During the 1958 Revolutionary Government of the Republic of Indonesia
Revolutionary Government of the Republic of Indonesia
The Revolutionary Government of the Republic of Indonesia was a rebel movement led by army officers of the Indonesian Army.-The Rebellion of the Colonels:...
(PRRI) rebellion, Murba Party cadres were seized by PRRI rebels and held at the Muara Labuh detention camp in West Sumatra
West Sumatra
West Sumatra is a province of Indonesia. It lies on the west coast of the island Sumatra. It borders the provinces of North Sumatra to the north, Riau and Jambi to the east, and Bengkulu to the southeast. It includes the Mentawai Islands off the coast...
.
Adam Malik
Adam Malik
Adam Malik Batubara was Indonesia's third vice president, a senior diplomat, and one of the pioneers of Indonesian journalism.-Early life:...
, one of the founding leaders of the Murba Party, was named as the Indonesian ambassador to the Soviet Union and Poland. In 1960 Chaerul Saleh
Chaerul Saleh
Chairul Saleh Dt Paduko Rajo was born in Sawahlunto, West Sumatra. He was an Indonesian government minister and vice prime minister during the Sukarno presidency. He was a close confident of Sukarno, who he had helped persuade to declare Indonesian independence in 1945...
of the Murba Party became chairman of the National Council. He also came to serve as chairman of the National Front.
International shifts
During the November 1962 Cuban missile crisisCuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation among the Soviet Union, Cuba and the United States in October 1962, during the Cold War...
, the Murba Party voiced its support for Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
and declared that the party was willing to send volunteers to help the Cubans.
In 1959 the Murba Party had declared that China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
was the state in the Socialist Bloc with whom it felt closest affinity but with the PKI-Soviet in 1963, the Murba Party reoriented itself towards building relations with the Soviet Union instead. Once it was clear that PKI had sided with the Communist Party of China
Communist Party of China
The Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...
in the Sino-Soviet split
Sino-Soviet split
In political science, the term Sino–Soviet split denotes the worsening of political and ideologic relations between the People's Republic of China and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics during the Cold War...
, one sector of the Murba Party began to negotiate with the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the only legal, ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world...
regarding the possibility that the Murba-led mass organizations could replace PKI mass organizations in pro-Soviet international communist structures. The Murba Party, on its behalf, began calling for the inclusion of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
into the Afro-Asian fraternity. These contacts were aided by the fact that the Murba leader Adam Malik had been stationed as ambassador in Moscow. In 1963 Adam Malik returned to Indonesia, and became Minister of Trade.
Conflict with PKI culminates
In April 1964 the Murba Party proposed that a single-party system be introduced in IndonesiaIndonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, seeking support from President Sukarno for the idea. The underlying purpose of the plan was to eliminate PKI as an independent political force. Parties like the Indonesian National Party
Indonesian National Party
The Indonesian National Party is the same used by several political parties in Indonesia from 1927 until the present day.-Pre-independence:...
and Nahdatul Ulama
Nahdatul Ulama
Nahdlatul Ulama is a traditionalist Sunni Islam group in Indonesia.The NU was established on January 31, 1926 as a reaction to the modernist Muhammadiyah organization. In 1965, the group took sides with the General Suharto-led army and was heavily involved in the mass killings of Indonesian...
protested against the proposal, and in the end the Murba Party failed to convince Sukarno to endorse the proposal. However, the proposal did gain some quiet support from sectors of the army. Later the same year, when President Sukarno expressed his willingness to include PKI in the government, the Murba Party was one of the parties which voiced its opposition.
During this period, the Murba Party was publicly targeted by the PKI. In its anti-price hike mass campaigns the PKI singled out the Murba Party ministers Adam Malik
Adam Malik
Adam Malik Batubara was Indonesia's third vice president, a senior diplomat, and one of the pioneers of Indonesian journalism.-Early life:...
and Chaerul Saleh as responsibles. Issues that had aroused the fury of the PKI were the alliances of the Murba Party with anti-Communist
Anti-communism
Anti-communism is opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed in reaction to the rise of communism, especially after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia and the beginning of the Cold War in 1947.-Objections to communist theory:...
sectors and anti-Sukarno army officers, the support of the Murba Party for U.S. film imports and the covert Soviet-Murba contacts.
Crackdown on the Murba Party
On January 6, 1965 the government declared that the activities of the Murba Party had been 'frozen'. Murba Party leaders were arrested. The 'freezing' of the Murba Party followed the ban by Sukarno on the 'Body to Promote Sukarnoism' (BPS, in which prominent Murba Party figures had played leading roles). Through its activities in BPS (directed towards the breaking the political influence of PKI), the Murba Party had moved outside the political boundaries of the NasakomNasakom
Nasakom was a political concept during the Sukarno presidency in Indonesia. It is an acronym based on the Indonesian words NASionalisme , Agama , and KOMunisme ....
concept of Sukarno's Guided Democracy. Sukarno believed that the BPS campaign had been manipulated by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
.
Following the 'freezing' of the Murba Party, PKI continued ferocious attacks on the party. PKI declared that the Murba Party was a party of 'Trotsky
Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky , born Lev Davidovich Bronshtein, was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and theorist, Soviet politician, and the founder and first leader of the Red Army....
ites' and 'imperialist
Imperialism
Imperialism, as defined by Dictionary of Human Geography, is "the creation and/or maintenance of an unequal economic, cultural, and territorial relationships, usually between states and often in the form of an empire, based on domination and subordination." The imperialism of the last 500 years,...
agents'. Demands were raised that the Murba Party ministers be expelled from the government, pro-Murba newspapers be closed and that Murba Party members be expelled from the journalists' union and other semi-official structures.
Under the New Order regime
After the 1965-1966 coup d'état the Murba Party continued its activities. It was able to retain small pockets of influence. In March 1966, Adam Malik became foreign minister and deputy prime minister under Suharto.Under Suharto's rule, the surviving political parties of the 'Old Order' were pressured to consolidate themselves into two political blocs, one Islamic and one 'secular'. The Murba Party was included in the latter category and in March 1970 the Democratic Development Group (Kelompok Persatuan Pembangunan) was formed, consisting of the Murba Party, Indonesian National Party
Indonesian National Party
The Indonesian National Party is the same used by several political parties in Indonesia from 1927 until the present day.-Pre-independence:...
(PNI), the League of Upholders of Indonesian Independence (IPKI), the Catholic Party and the Indonesian Christian Party (Parkindo).
The Murba Party took part in the 1971 parliamentary election
Indonesian legislative election, 1971
Indonesia's second legislative election, and the first under the New Order regime, was held on July 3, 1971. There were 10 participants; 9 political parties and the "functional group" Golkar.-Background:...
. The party got 48,126 votes nationwide (0.1%), and failed to win any seats.
On January 10, 1973 the Murba Party and the other members of the Democratic Development Group merged into the Indonesian Democratic Party
Indonesian Democratic Party
The Indonesian Democratic Party was one of the two state-approved parties during the New Order era of the late 20th-century in Indonesia.-Origins:...
.