Abdul Haris Nasution
Abdul Haris Nasution was a high-ranking Indonesian general and politician. He served in the military during the Indonesian National Revolution and remained in the military during the subsequent turmoil of the Parliamentary democracy and Guided Democracy. Following the fall of President Sukarno from power, he became the Speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly under President Suharto. Born into a Batak Muslim family, in the village of Hutapungkut, Dutch East Indies, he studied teaching and enrolled at a military academy in Bandung.
Nasution was born on 3 December 1918 in the village of Hutapungkut, Mandailing Natal Regency, North Sumatra, into a Muslim Mandailing Batak family. He was the second child of his parents and the oldest son. His father was a trader who sold textiles, rubber, and coffee and was a member of the Sarekat Islam organisation. His very religious father wanted his son to study at a religious school, while his mother wanted him to study medicine in Batavia. However, after graduating from school in 1932, Nasution received a scholarship to study teaching at Bukitinggi. In 1935 Nasution moved to Bandung to continue his studies, where he remained for three years. His desire to be a teacher gradually faded as his interest in politics grew. He secretly bought books written by the Indonesian nationalist Sukarno and read them with his friends. Following his graduation in 1937, Nasution returned to Sumatra and taught in Bengkulu, living near the house where Sukarno lived in exile. He occasionally spoke with Sukarno and heard him give speeches. A year later Nasution moved to Tanjungraja, near Palembang, where he continued to teach, but became more and more interested in politics and the military.
Siliwangi Division
After Sukarno declared Indonesia's independence on 17 August 1945, Nasution joined the fledgling Indonesian Army, then known as the People's Security Army (TKR), which was fighting the Indonesian National Revolution against the Dutch. In May 1946, he was appointed Regional Commander of the Siliwangi Division, which looked after the security of West Java. In this position, Nasution developed the theory of territorial warfare which would become the future defense doctrine of the Indonesian Army. In January 1948, the Indonesian Government and the Dutch Government signed the Renville Agreement, dividing Java between areas under Dutch and Indonesian control. Because the territories occupied by the Dutch included West Java, Nasution was forced to lead the Siliwangi Division across to Central Java and into Indonesian-controlled territory.
Deputy commander
1948 would also see Nasution rise to the position of Deputy TNI Commander. Despite being only a Colonel, this appointment made Nasution the most powerful person in the TNI, second only to the popular General Sudirman. Nasution immediately went to work in his new role. In April, he assisted Sudirman in reorganising the structure of the troops. In June, at a commanders' meeting, his suggestion that TNI should fight guerrilla warfare against the Dutch was approved. Although not the Commander of the TNI, Nasution gained experience in the role of Armed Forces Commander in September 1948 with the Madiun incident. Following the takeover of the city of Madiun in East Java, by former Prime Minister Amir Syarifuddin and Musso of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI). When the news reached the TNI Headquarters in Yogyakarta, a meeting was held between senior military officers.
First term as chief of staff
In December 1949, Nasution took on his position as army chief of staff, with T. B. Simatupang replacing Sudirman as the commander of the newly dubbed TNI (Armed Forces of the Republic of Indonesia). In 1952, Nasution and Simatupang decided to adopt a policy of restructuring and reorganisation for TNI. Under this arrangement, Nasution and Simatupang hoped to create a smaller army but one that was more modern and professional. It did not take long, however, before factional interests came into play. Nasution and Simatupang, who had both been trained by the Dutch colonial government wanted to discharge the soldiers trained by the Japanese and integrate more soldiers trained by the Dutch. The Japanese-trained troops, led by Bambang Supeno, began speaking out against this policy. In adopting their policy, Nasution and Simatupang had the backing of Prime Minister Wilopo and Defense Minister Hamengkubuwono IX. However, Supeno managed to find support from among the opposition parties in the People's Representative Council (DPR). The DPR members then began making their disagreements on the restructuring of TNI known. Nasution and Simatupang were not happy to see what they perceived to be interference in military affairs by civilians. On 17 October 1952, Nasution and Simatupang mobilised their troops in a show of force. Protesting against civilian interference in military affairs, Nasution and Simatupang had their troops surround the Presidential Palace and point their tank turrets at it. Their demand to Sukarno was that the current DPR be dismissed.
Second term as chief of staff
On 27 October 1955, after three years of exile, Nasution was re-appointed to his old position as Army Chief of Staff. He immediately began working on the army and its structure by adopting a threefold approach. First, he formulated a tour of duty system so that officers would be stationed around the country and gain experience. This would also result in army officers being more professional, instead of feeling personal attachment and loyalty to the province and region they came from. Nasution's second change was to centralise military training. All training methods would now be uniform, instead of regional commanders setting up their methods. Nasution's third and most important reform was to increase the army's influence and power so that it would be able to take care of itself, instead of relying on civilian decisions. Nasution did not have a problem applying the first two changes, but he would have to wait to apply the third. By 1957, President Sukarno had begun to introduce the concept of Guided Democracy, in response to his disenchantment with the Parliamentary Democracy approach which Indonesia had adopted since November 1945. In this, he found a common bond with Nasution and the army, who still harboured resentment of civilian interference with army affairs in 1952.
Corruption in the army
Since 1956, Nasution had been trying to stamp out corruption in the army, but the return to the 1945 Constitution seemed to have renewed his resolve in this matter. He believed that the army should set an example for the rest of society. Not long after Sukarno's decree, Nasution sent Brigadier General Sungkono to investigate the financial dealings of Military Area Command IV/Diponegoro (Kodam) and its commander, Colonel Suharto. Sungkono's findings revealed that during his time as regional commander, Suharto had set up foundations to help local people. However, these foundations were funded through compulsory levies (instead of voluntary donations) on production and service industries.
West Irian
During the struggle for independence, Sukarno had always perceived Indonesia as also including West Papua. When the Dutch finally recognised Indonesia's independence, West Papua continued to be a Dutch colony. Sukarno did not give up and continued to push for it to be included as part of Indonesia through the United Nations and through the Bandung Conference, where the attending nations promised to support Indonesia's claim. The Dutch remained adamant and by 1960, Sukarno had run out of patience. In July, he met with his top advisors, including Nasution, and it was agreed that Indonesia would pursue a policy of confrontation against the Dutch on the matter of West Papua. As part of the preparation for this campaign, Nasution turned to Suharto, who had finished his Seskoad course in November 1960.
Rivalry with the Communists
Around this time, Sukarno had begun to see the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI) instead of the army as his main political ally. Although he had set Indonesia on a non-aligned course during the Cold War, the revelation that the PRRI was assisted by the United States, caused Sukarno to adopt an anti-American stance. In this, he had the PKI as a natural ally. For the PKI, an alliance with Sukarno would only add to its political momentum as its influence continued to grow in Indonesian politics. Nasution was wary of the PKI's influence over Sukarno and in turn, Sukarno was aware that Nasution was not happy about the PKI's influence and made a move to weaken his power. In July 1962, Sukarno reorganised the structure of ABRI. The status of the heads of the Armed Forces branches would now be upgraded from chief of staff to commander. As commanders, the heads of the armed forces branches would have more power and would answer only to Sukarno as the Supreme Commander of ABRI.
Division with Yani
Nasution soon began developing an attitude of hostility towards Yani. Both Nasution and Yani were anti-communists, but their attitude towards Sukarno was different. Nasution was critical of Sukarno for backing and supporting the PKI, while Yani, a Sukarno loyalist, adopted a softer stance. Nasution criticised Yani's soft stance and relations between the two soured. To make matters worse, Yani began replacing regional commanders who were close to Nasution with those who were close to himself. On 13 January 1965, a delegation of officers representing Nasution and Yani met in an attempt to reconcile the differences between the two officers. The meeting was unsuccessful in persuading Yani to distance himself from Sukarno, but delegates agreed to hold seminars where officers could talk about the current political climate and the role of the army in politics. As the year went on, a document was circulated in Jakarta. Dubbed the Gilchrist Document, it was a letter purporting to come from British ambassador Andrew Gilchrist, and mentioned "our local army friends". Suspicion was immediately cast on the army wanting to launch a coup. Although Yani was quick to deny the allegations, the PKI began running a smear campaign, claiming that a Council of Generals was planning to overthrow the president. As the most senior officers in the Army, Nasution and Yani were implicated to be part of this council.
Kidnapping attempt
On the morning of 1 October 1965, troops calling themselves the 30 September Movement (G30S) attempted to kidnap seven anti-communist Army officers including Nasution. Lieutenant Arief was the leader of the squad assigned to capture Nasution, and his team in four trucks and two military cars travelled down the Jalan Teuku Umar (Teuku Umar Street) at 4:00 am. Nasution's home was at No. 40, a modest single-story home. The guard in the sentry box outside the house saw the vehicles coming, but upon seeing the men were soldiers he was not suspicious and did not call his superior, Sergeant Iskaq, who was in charge of the army detail guarding the house. The sergeant was in a guardroom in the front room along with half a dozen soldiers some of whom were asleep. A guard was asleep in the front garden and another was on duty at the rear of the house. In a separate cottage, two of Nasution's aides were asleep, a young army lieutenant Pierre Tendean, and assistant police commissioner Hamdan Mansjur.
Missed opportunity
Although Suharto had been in focus on the 1st of October, many of the other Army officers still turned to Nasution for leadership and had expected him to take more decisive control of the situation. However, Nasution was deemed indecisive, and slowly but surely the support began to turn away from him. In the first few weeks after G30S, Nasution was the one who constantly lobbied Sukarno to have Suharto appointed Army Commander. Sukarno, who after 1 October wanted to keep Pranoto, had originally only made Suharto the Commander of Kopkamtib, but with Nasution's constant lobbying, Sukarno was finally persuaded and on 14 October 1965, appointed Suharto as the army commander. A golden opportunity came to Nasution in December 1965 when there was talk of his being appointed as vice president to assist Sukarno in times of uncertainty. Nasution did not capitalise on this and chose to do nothing. Suharto, whose political momentum was growing, took the initiative in early 1966 by issuing a statement saying that there was no need to fill the vacant vice presidency.
Chairman of the MPRS
With his new powers, Suharto began purging the government of what he perceived to be communist influence. After the arrest of 15 cabinet ministers on 18 March 1966, Suharto went after the Provisional People's Consultative Assembly (MPRS), removing members thought to be communist sympathizers and replacing them with members more sympathetic to the army's cause. During the purge, the MPRS also lost its chairman, Chaerul Saleh, and there was a need to fill in the vacant position. Nasution was an overwhelmingly popular choice as all of the factions in the MPRS nominated him for the position of MPRS chairman. However, Nasution waited until Suharto expressed support for his nomination before accepting the nomination. On 20 June 1966, the MPRS General Session began. Nasution set Supersemar (Order of the Eleventh of March) as the first agenda on the list by walking into the assembly hall with the physical document. The next day, on 21 June, the MPRS ratified Supersemar, making it illegal for Sukarno to withdraw it.
Fall from power and opposition
Despite the assistance that Nasution gave him in his rise to power, Suharto viewed Nasution as a rival and immediately began working to remove him from power. In 1969, Nasution was barred from speaking at Seskoad and the Military Academy. In 1971, Nasution was suddenly discharged from military service at the age of 53, two years before the designated retirement age of 55. Nasution was finally removed in 1972 as the new batch of MPR members (elected during the 1971 legislative election) came in and elected Idham Chalid to replace him as MPR chairman. Nasution's drastic fall earned him the nickname of gelandangan politik (political bum). Once he was removed from positions of power, Nasution developed into a political opponent of the New Order regime. By the late 70s, Suharto's regime had turned from popular to authoritarian and corrupt. At this time many voices began to openly speak out and criticise the regime. After the 1977 legislative election, in which there was alleged electoral fraud by Suharto's Golkar party, Nasution said that there was a crisis in leadership in the New Order.
Reconciliation
By the beginning of the 1990s, Suharto was beginning to adopt a policy of political openness, and enforcement of the Petition of 50 Signatories' punishment was loosened. In June 1993, when he was in hospital because of illness, Nasution was visited by the army's top brass. He then received a visit from BJ Habibie, Suharto's Minister of Technology. Habibie then invited Nasution and the other signatories to visit his shipyard and the aircraft factory which had been put under his jurisdiction. The government also began claiming that although there was a travel ban for the Petition of 50 Signatories, the ban did not apply to Nasution. For his part, Nasution denied criticising the government, preferring to call it a "difference of opinion". Finally, in July 1993, Suharto invited Nasution to the Presidential Palace for a meeting. This was followed by another meeting on 18 August 1993, after the Independence Day celebrations. Nothing political was talked about, but it was clear that both men were keen to reconcile their differences.
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Nasution died on 6 September 2000 in Jakarta after suffering a stroke and going into a coma. He was buried at the Kalibata Heroes' Cemetery, South Jakarta.
Nasution was married to Johanna Sunarti (1 November 1923 – 20 March 2010), a Surabaya-born humanitarian, with whom he had two daughters, Hendriyanti Sahara (24 February 1952 – 18 June 2021) and Ade Irma Suryani.
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Umar Wirahadikusumah served as Nasution's adjutant from 1946 to 1947. The former residence of Nasution at Jl Teuku Umar No 40, Menteng, in central Jakarta has been converted into a museum.
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As an officer in the Indonesian Army (1945–1971), and then as Speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly (1966–1972), he received several Star Decorations, namely:
