1 - Introduction and Theoretical Considerations

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Hamengku Buwono IX, although so prominent in Indonesian politics for so long, has not yet attracted a full-length study in English. He never had a prominent role in Indonesian foreign policy, except in foreign economic policy in the 1960s. Hamengku Buwono lacked the charisma and oratory of Sukarno, the engaging style of Malik, the administrative tenacity of Hatta, the intellectuality of Syahrir, or the direct command of troops of Nasution. Of the figures who came to notice in the Revolution, however, only Malik had a longer career; but although Malik left no enduring political legacy, Hamengku Buwono bequeathed a thriving principality to his son and successor. When the Republican leaders could no longer bear the increasing dangers of Jakarta in 1945, they were constrained to move to Yogyakarta at the Sultan's invitation. When the Dutch had captured those leaders in 1948, the Sultan was able effectively to defy the invaders. When Sukarno's Guided Democracy failed, the untried General Suharto called on the Sultan to guide the country's economy. When the political leadership faltered, the country turned to the quiet, unassuming Sultan. One image in Indonesian writing about him is that of the goalkeeper, who saves the side when all else fails. This of course, like many other assertions about him, is an oversimplification and has to be examined critically.

But there is also something elusive about Hamengku Buwono. As I remark in Chapter 7, he recalls A.J.P. Taylor's description of Lord Halifax — “He was always at the centre of events yet managed somehow to leave the impression that he was not connected with them.” Historical accounts often mention the Sultan's presence at meetings or events without specifying exactly what his role was. Foreign accounts (e.g., the Australian official records) refer occasionally to meetings with him but rarely give details of the conversations. When the Dutch captured Yogyakarta in 1948, records of nine republican cabinet meetings fell into their hands. In only one of them is there any comment or statement by Hamengku Buwono, who was admittedly a junior minister of state at the time. Few of his public speeches or other records reveal the real man behind the myth.