Political system
Indonesia is a parliamentary republic with the dominant position of executive organs in the system of government. Legislative power belongs to the parliament – the House of People’s Representatives (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat – DPR) consisting of 500 deputies, elected by universal suffrage. The advisory body is the Consultative People’s Assembly (Majelis Permusyawaratan Rakyat – MPR), which has 700 members (500 members of the House of People’s Representatives, 135 provinces, 65 social representatives). Executive power belongs to the government headed by the president. The head of state is the president elected by the Consultative People’s Assembly for a 5-year term with unlimited re-election. The president holds the office of head of government and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. Judicial power belongs to the Supreme Court, whose members are elected by the president. The President of the Republic of Indonesia is Soesilo Bambang Yudhoyono, and the vice president of Muhammad Jusuf Kalla. The largest political parties in Indonesia are: PDIP – Democratic Party of Fighting Indonesians, GOLKAR – Joint Secretariat of Functional Groups, GDP – National Awakening Party.
Political situation
As in many other regions of the world, international Islamic terrorist groups have also become active in Indonesia. In October 2002, over 200 people were killed in the Bali attack. Unity of the state was threatened by religious and ethnic riots (mainly in Moluccas and Celebes) and separatist tendencies in the province of West Papua, and especially in Aceh in Sumatra. In 2004, the opposition won the elections to the national parliament and legislative authorities The United Secretariat of Functional Groups, Golkar, who defeated the ruling Democratic Party of Indonesia – Fight, and in the first in the first direct presidential election (September 2004) M. Sukarnoputri was defeated by General S.B. Yudhoyono, supported by Golkar. At the threshold of their activity, the new authorities faced the catastrophe caused by the tsunami (December 26, 2004), which killed about 0.25 million victims in Indonesia (mainly in Aceh).
