Sartono

Raden Mas Sartono (5 August 1900 – 15 October 1968) was an Indonesian politician and lawyer who was the first speaker of the House of Representatives from 1950 until his resignation in 1960. During his career, Sartono served as a cabinet minister, acting president, and vice chairman of the Supreme Advisory Council (DPA) under President Sukarno. He was also active in the Indonesian nationalist movement.

Born into a Javanese family of noble descent, Sartono studied law at Leiden University. During his studies, he became a member of the ''Perhimpoenan Indonesia'' association. After graduating, Sartono worked as an advocate and helped found the Indonesian National Party (PNI) in 1927. He unsuccessfully defended the party's leaders when they were arrested by the colonial government. In 1931, Sartono founded a new party, Partindo, which sought to achieve Indonesian independence through mass action and non-cooperation, but repression from the colonial government led to its dissolution in 1936. He then helped found another party, Gerindo, which advocated for self-determination and the creation of an Indonesian parliament.

Following the successful Japanese invasion in 1942, Gerindo would be dissolved and Sartono briefly left politics. During the Japanese occupation, he returned to politics and was involved in the Central Advisory Council and Putera organizations, both of which were Japanese-sponsored. He also became a member of the Investigating Committee for Preparatory Work for Independence. After the Proclamation of Indonesian Independence in 1945, he was appointed a state minister in the Presidential Cabinet. As minister, he was dispatched to the Yogyakarta Sultanate and Surakarta Sunanate to strengthen support for the Indonesian government there. During the subsequent Indonesian National Revolution, Sartono became a member of a re-established PNI, served in the Central Indonesian National Committee, and advised the Indonesian delegation of the Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference.

In February 1950, Sartono was elected as the first speaker of the House of Representatives (DPR), though it was then the DPR of the United States of Indonesia (RIS). He would go on to serve as DPR speaker for the next ten years, including for the entirety of the liberal democracy period. Following the dissolution of the RIS, Sartono would be re-elected as speaker of a new Provisional DPR (which replaced the DPR-RIS). In 1951, after the collapse of the Natsir Cabinet, Sartono was appointed formateur and tasked with forming a new cabinet. However, he failed to do so after less than a month of negotiations and was forced to return his mandate. He also briefly resigned in March 1956 after a bill—which he opposed—on the Netherlands-Indonesia Union was passed by the DPR.

Following the 1955 elections, Sartono would be re-elected as DPR speaker. During this time, he served as acting president several times when Sukarno went on overseas trips. In 1959, the Constitution of 1945 was re-adopted by presidential decree, marking the rise of authoritarianism and Guided Democracy. In 1960, the DPR was suspended by Sukarno after it voted against the government budget; Sartono subsequently resigned. After his resignation, he refused to take public office for a few years. Eventually, he accepted an offer to serve as vice chairman of the DPA in 1962. However, he found it to be disappointing and resigned from the DPA in 1967. Thereafter, he left politics entirely and died in 1968. Since his death, there have been proposals to declare him a National Hero of Indonesia. Provided by Wikipedia