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| Jakarta Charter | |
|---|---|
| Name | Jakarta Charter |
| Native name | Piagam Jakarta |
| Other names | Jakarta Declaration |
| Date | 22 June 1945 |
| Place | Jakarta |
| Authors | Sukarno; Mohammad Hatta; BPUPK; Panitia Sembilan; Committee of Nine |
| Language | Indonesian |
| Significance | Foundational provision for Constitution of 1945 |
Jakarta Charter
The Jakarta Charter is the June 1945 draft preamble clause that proposed the foundational formulation for the Constitution of 1945 later adopted by leaders including Sukarno, Mohammad Hatta, Sutan Sjahrir, Sutan Syahrir and factions such as Indonesian nationalists, PNI and representatives of Muslim organizations. It emerged from deliberations involving the Japanese occupation, the BPUPK and the Committee of Nine as Indonesia moved toward independence from Dutch colonial rule and the Allied presence.
Drafting occurred amid negotiations among figures like Sukarno, Mohammad Hatta, Abikoesno Tjokrosoejoso, Wachid Hasyim, Muhammad Yamin and delegates from groups including Nahdlatul Ulama, Muhammadiyah, Indonesian Communist Party members, Persis and regional representatives from Borneo, Sumatra, Sulawesi and Java. The setting was influenced by wartime institutions such as the BPUPK and the PPKI, created under Imperial Japan's Southeast Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere policies. International contexts—World War II, Allied–Japanese conflicts, and postwar negotiations between Netherlands authorities and Indonesian leaders—shaped urgency. Key contemporaneous documents include drafts by Muhammad Yamin, proposals from Soepomo, and positions articulated in speeches in Jakarta and Bogor.
The Committee of Nine, which included Sukarno, Hatta, Mohammad Yamin, Abikoesno Tjokrosoejoso, Wachid Hasyim, Muhammad Yamin (again as drafter), Soepomo and others, produced the Charter text that proposed a preamble clause invoking the obligation for Muslims to observe Shahada-like phrasing by referencing Sharia elements, alongside language endorsing Pancasila principles advanced by Sukarno and constitutional structure influenced by models from German Weimar and U.S. Constitution debates observed by delegates. The Charter's five-point frame aimed to reconcile visions from Islamic modernism, secular nationalism, leftist republicanism and regional autonomy advocates from Aceh, Makassar and Padang. Draft text intersected with proposed articles drafted by Soepomo on unitary state structure and by Muhammad Yamin on citizenship and rights.
Debates over the Charter involved leaders from Nahdlatul Ulama, Muhammadiyah, Masyumi Party precursors, secular nationalists from PNI and regional delegates from Sumatra and Kalimantan. Contention centered on whether to enshrine religious qualifications and Sharia elements—positions championed by figures such as Wachid Hasyim and opposed by secularists like Sutan Sjahrir and legal scholars influenced by Soepomo. The issue linked to wider political struggles involving the Dutch negotiations and the revolutionary struggle, influencing alignments among Islamic parties, leftist unions and military leaders including Sudirman and Sudirman. International observers, including representatives from Allied Command and colonial officials from the Netherlands Indies Civil Administration, monitored outcome implications for minority rights and state identity.
On 18 August 1945 the PPKI adopted the Constitution of 1945, omitting the Charter's specific religious clause at the behest of delegates from Borneo, Eastern Indonesia, and secular nationalists, while preserving other preamble themes consistent with the Charter's spirit. The decision involved negotiation among Sukarno, Hatta, Soepomo and nationalist leaders; it reflected concerns voiced by representatives from Ambon, Papua and eastern provinces. Subsequent legal developments—such as the 1950 Provisional Constitution, the 1959 reinstatement of the 1945 Constitution by President Sukarno, later amending processes under President Suharto and the Reformasi era—affected the Charter's formal standing. Although never part of the operative text, the Charter influenced interpretive debates in cases before bodies like the Constitutional Court and political statements by parties including Golkar and PDI-P.
The Charter functioned as a bridge between competing constitutional visions presented by Soepomo's unitary state model, Muhammad Yamin's rights-centered draft and Sukarno's Pancasila synthesis. Its compromise language shaped existential questions addressed during the Konstituante period, the 1955 elections organized by KPU, and debates culminating in the 1949 Round Table Conference and the 1959 decree by Sukarno dissolving the Constituent Assembly. Legal scholars at institutions like University of Indonesia and Gadjah Mada University have traced the Charter's imprint on constitutional clauses, administrative law reforms, and discourse within parties such as Masyumi and Nahdlatul Ulama.
Contemporary politics continues to reference the Charter in discussions among factions like PKS, PKB and secular coalitions, as well as in debates in the MPR and statements by presidents from Megawati Sukarnoputri to Joko Widodo. Civil society organizations, Nahdlatul Ulama leadership, and Islamic legal scholars at UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta debate the Charter's implications for minority rights, religious accommodation, and state ideology. The Charter remains a touchstone in historiography by authors at institutions including LIPI and in museum exhibitions at National Museum of Indonesia. Its symbolic status influences constitutional interpretation, party platforms, and public commemorations in Jakarta and across provinces from Aceh to Papua.
Category:Constitutional law of Indonesia Category:History of Indonesia