Genesis of Power: General Sudirman and the Indonesian Military in Politics 1945-49

by Salim Said

The dominant role of the Indonesian military has long been a characteristic feature of the Indonesian political scene. But how did this dominance emerge In "Genesis of Power", Dr Salim Said delves into the circumstance of the Indonesian military's inception during the struggle for independence in the 1940s and the perceptions of its first commander-in-chief, or Panglima Besar, General Sudirman, to answer this question. In General Sudirman's view, there were a number of reasons for the military's dominance, including the fact that the military was a self-created institution rather than one established by the government or a political party; the fact that he was elected by his troops rather than by the government; the weakness of indigenous political and governmental institutions at that time; and the experience of running a military government for eight months during the guerrilla war period, which led to the Panglima Besar's perception of the military as the main defender of the country's sovereignity and to the consequent assertive role of the military. In an epilogue to his historical account, Dr Salim observes that while the legitimacy of the military's participation in politics has remained unquestioned, new circumstances following General Sudirman's death have constantly forced it to redefine the precise nature of that participation. "Genesis of Power" will be important reading for all those concerned with the contemporary history of Indonesia and Southeast Asia. "Genesis of power" will be important reading for all those concerned with the contemporary history of Indonesia and Southeast Asia. "Dr Salim Said is head of International Relations of the Indonesian Film Festival and Chairman of the Jakarta Arts Council. He spent six of his 25 years as a journalist with the newspaper of the Indonesian armed forces, "Angkatan Bersenjata.

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

Reviews

[nawir nawir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Saya pikir, Soedirman lebih cocok disebut sebagai politisi setelah membaca buku ini.

[Boyke Rahardian · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book Salim Said clinically examined the rise of military's dominance over Indonesia's politics. Turned out, the military's appetite for power has emerged from the beginning of its formation. It is General Soedirman himself who played a major part in defining military's role, under the pretext that civilian administration was either not capable or has a hidden agenda of playing military into partisan role for the benefit of certain political parties. The absence of power after the Dutch's military aggression in 1947 & 1948 embolden the military to create their own commando structure which mirror civilian administration structure. Devised by Nasution, this structure would evolve into Kodim-Koramil system during Orde Baru.

This book also tells the struggle within Indonesian Military itself on how to interpret the dual-function ideology. Nasution & Simatupang were the military ideologists, but never truly liked within the ranks as they were not coming from the Japanese Military training like most of the officers. Ironically, it is Nasution's Middle-Way idea on military's socio-political role which later evolved into the dual-function ideology blatantly embraced in Orde Baru era.

A great book vastly supported by first-hand information from within the military itself. In the end Salim Said concluded that military will play enduring role in Indonesian politics although he foresee that the dynamics would change as the military would adjust its doctrine "from within the military itself." This change would be driven by the change in Indonesian society itself as "civilians become more assertive in the political arena." As so much mysteries still shrouded the fall of Orde Baru in 1998 I can't help thinking: was he right?

[Inggita · Rating 3 out of 5]

quite an amazing feat SS did - i never get to read the whole thing but of course my focus of interest, knowing that this is about THE general and his guerrilla struggle - is the jungle chapter ("Fighting from Villages, Jungles, and Mountains") - this is the highlight of my father's life, having fought the war of independence when he's 15 - and later in life, lo and behold, i got to interview on camera (for "Teenage Warrior") one of the members of the TP (student brigade), pak Prat, in New York City. it gives a personal and emotional dimension of the piece of history SS and other historians wrote in their accounts of the nation's path towards maintaining its independence.