The Indonesian political system

Political System

The Indonesian political system is a republican republic, and the Indonesian Republic is a federal state in which the authorities are concentrated in the hands of the central government. The Republic of Indonesia was born in 1945 after a long period of Dutch colonial rule and Japanese occupation during the Second World War. The Founding Fathers established a central government or a federal state to unify the Indonesian people from a diverse ethnic, religious, and cultural mix distributed to thousands of islands.

Indonesia continued to adopt the federal government model for five years after independence until December 1949. It adopted the model of the United Republic of Indonesia for seven months until August 1950 but returned to the model of a central unitary state based on the 1945 Constitution. After the end of the new regime in Indonesia (1966-1998), political and governmental institutions underwent comprehensive reforms. Four amendments to the 1945 Constitution were enacted in Indonesia in 1998-2000. Legislative, judicial, and legislative authorities were reorganized and Indonesian governments faced pressure from the provinces to reduce centralization which the provinces were given a form of autonomy as a form of decentralization of power and the subsequent transformation of the system into a republican, decentralized constitutional democratic system

Executive Authority

The President is the head of the executive authority in Indonesia and according to the Constitution, the President is the head of state and head of government and commander-in-chief of the Indonesian armed forces and responsible for local administrations. The President and Vice-President shall be elected by direct vote for a term of five years and shall be governed for two consecutive terms, which was previously (before 2004) through the Shura Council.

The prime minister is appointed and has wide powers to manage the country independently in emergencies.

The Constitution

The Indonesian Constitution was first written in July 1945 and then suspended after it was replaced by the Federal Constitution of 1949 and the Interim Constitution of 1950. Then the Constitution of 1949 was reinstated in July 1959.

The Constitution regulates the relationship between the status of the State and the other states, as well as determines the responsibilities, powers, and functions of officials in the State, as well as regulating relations between state institutions (legislative, executive, and executive).

Judiciary

The Supreme Court is the highest judicial body whose judges are appointed by the President of the Republic. The judiciary is composed of a different group of courts, which are distinguished according to jurisdiction.

Most civil cases are adjudicated before national courts and appeals are heard before the Supreme Court.

Other courts include:

The Commercial Court examines bankruptcy and insolvency cases.

The Administrative Court of the State and considers cases of administrative law against the government.

The Constitutional Court examines issues related to the legality of laws, general elections, the dissolution of political parties, and the scope of authority of state institutions.

Religious courts to deal with legal cases.