Established 27 December 1949 Founded 1949 | Disestablished 17 August 1950 Date dissolved 1950 | |
 | ||
1949–1950 SukarnoAssaat Datuk Mudo (provisional) | ||
The Republic of the United States of Indonesia (Indonesian: Republik Indonesia Serikat, RIS), abbreviated as RUSI, was a federal state to which the Netherlands formally transferred sovereignty of the Dutch East Indies (minus Netherlands New Guinea) on 27 December 1949 following the Dutch-Indonesian Round Table Conference. This transfer ended the four-year conflict between Indonesian nationalists and the Netherlands that was fought over for control of Indonesia. It lasted less than a year, before being replaced by the unitary Republic of Indonesia.
Contents
Background
Following pressure from the United States and the United Nations, in particular in the form of a Security Council resolution, the Dutch agreed to negotiations with Indonesia to arrange a transfer of sovereignty. The Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference took place in The Hague from August to November 1949. However, many Indonesian nationalists believed that the Dutch had insisted on a federal state in an attempt to weaken or even break up the new nation, a manifestation of a "divide and conquer" strategy
Form of state
The RUSI had a bicameral legislature. The People's Representative Council consisted of 50 representatives from the Republic of Indonesia and 100 from the various states according to their populations. The Senate had two members from each constituent part of the RUSI regardless of population, making 32 members in total. The state was governed according to the Federal Constitution of 1949, which had been drawn up on the sidelines of the Round Table Conference. It had a cabinet of 16 members, led by Prime Minister Hatta.
Dissolution
Over the first half of 1950, the non-Republic states gradually dissolved themselves into the Republic. The United States of Indonesia was officially dissolved by President Sukarno on 17 August 1950 – the fifth anniversary of his proclamation of independence – and replaced by a unitary Republic of Indonesia.
Constituent entities
The RUSI comprised sixteen state entities: a "Republic of Indonesia" consisting of territories in Java and Sumatra (a combined population of over 31 million); and the fifteen states established by the Dutch, which had populations between 100,000 and 11 million.