The Wilopo Cabinet was something of a watershed in
post-revolutionary Indonesian politics. During its fourteen months
of existence important changes developed in the constellation of
political power among the major political parties, the President,
and the army. And within one of the major parties there occurred a
shift in the relative strength of leadership groups of such
importance as to bring about significant changes in the party's
political posture and in its relationship with several of the other
parties. It was during this period that cabinet government was
seriously undermined and parliament lost much of its prestige and
power; and it was during these fourteen months that were set in
train many of the developments which have dominated Indonesian
political life in the last few years.
The key political events of this period are complex and
confusing and have generally been but imperfectly understood
outside of Indonesia. Yet failure to understand them can result in
more than inability to understand the period itself. It will also
make difficult any full and sound comprehension of the important
developments of the past few years. Herbert Feith, in my judgment,
has probed much further into the events of this period than any
other non-Indonesian scholar. He has searched out a great deal of
significant new data which he has analyzed with tools sharpened by
long residence and research in Indonesia, interviews with many
knowledgeable Indonesians and a full mastery of the Indonesian
language. I believe he has presented as clear a picture of an
important period of Indonesian history and of its shaping of
subsequent events as is likely to emerge for some time. - George
McT. Kahin
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Herbert Feith (1930-2001) became familiar with
Indonesia during 1951-53 and 1954-56 when he was an English
Language Assistant with the Ministry of Information of the Republic
of Indonesia. A citizen of Australia, he received an M.A. degree
from the University of Melbourne in 1955 and a Ph.D. from Cornell
University in 1961. He was a Research Fellow in the Department of
Pacific History, Australian National University, from 1960 to 1962
and was Chair of Politics at Monash University from 1968 until
1974.
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