Irian must belong to Indonesia!
De Locomotief, 13 Mar 1950 (Aneta): RIS parliament unanimously adopts a motion that Irian be linked to Indonesia within a year, and the government accepts it. In the defence-minister Q&A, it is noted that the Defence Ministry has asked the NIT government about the arrest of Salawati Daud, still unanswered; Supomo repor
National Committee of South Celebes
De Locomotief, 29 June 1950 (Aneta): the South Sulawesi people's representation, meeting as 'Komite Nasional Indonesia Sulawesi Selatan', elects Salawati Daud, 'a well-known political figure in Makassar', as chairwoman. Her arrest in the Masamba affair had recently been raised in the RIS parliament; she was released sh
Last phase of parliament: the constitution
De Locomotief, 25 July 1950: report on the last phase of the RIS parliament, opened by Sartono, and the draft unitary constitution. Mrs Moedigdio (Mudigdio) of the Socialist Party is one of the members who say parliament must keep the right of amendment. Text is partly garbled; no Gerwis reference.
'They were not allowed to take part': 17 August is a day of mourning
De Locomotief, 15 Aug 1950 (Aneta): SOBSI, Rukun Tani, a youth front, PRRI and the women's organisation GERWIS form a committee to commemorate the 'People's Proclamation of 17 August 1945', declaring 17 August 1950 a day of mourning because the RTC-style unitary state buries the 1945 republic. They protest the ban on b
Regency council installed
De Locomotief, 10 Oct 1950: report on the installation of the Semarang regency council by Resident Milono, listing about 40 members from many parties and bodies. Mrs Sri Utari is named as the Gerwis representative; Mrs Sukandar and Suwarti represent GPII's women's wing. Records Gerwis's presence in local government in
Questions in parliament
De Locomotief, 15 Sept 1951: communist MP Suwarti questions the government about recent confiscations of Karl Marx's books and the Attorney General's claim that they rest on legal grounds, asking which statutory article applies. The rest is unreadable. Shows a woman PKI parliamentarian defending the right to publish Ma
Sumatran groups up in arms against Masjumi
De Locomotief, 27 July 1953: a Palembang delegation (PIR, PNI, PKI) flies to Jakarta with a statement signed by six parties and 22 organisations including SOBSI, BTI, Pemuda Rakjat and Gerwis. It demands early elections, anti-corruption action, settlement of the Tanjung Morawa affair and a democratic cabinet without Ma
Salatiga: national action committee formed
De Locomotief, 29 July 1953: Salatiga branches of SOBSI, BTI, PPDI, Pemuda Rakjat and Gerwis jointly convene a meeting of 35 organisations and parties, which forms a national action committee and decides to send an open letter to Sukarno urging implementation of parliament's decisions and action against Darul Islam and
Salatiga: new executive council member elected
De Locomotief, 20 Jan 1954: Salatiga municipal council elects a new member of the executive council; Mrs Judodiprodjo of Gerwis receives 1 vote against 6 for Abdulsalam (Pemuda Demokrat) and 4 for Djojopuspito (PIR). Shows a Gerwis woman as a candidate in local government.
Gerwani conference in Salatiga on implementing congress decisions
De Locomotief, 29 July 1954: the Salatiga branch of Gerwani, with Central Java provincial delegates and BTI, SOBSI and women's organisation representatives, discusses implementing the latest congress decisions. Sub-branches will be set up in every subdistrict capital. Gerwani fields no candidates in the elections but i
Transmigration to South Sumatra; Medan cooperation body resolution
De Locomotief, 24 Aug 1954: a note on 50 families transmigrating from Purwokerto to South Sumatra, and a brief item that the Medan Badan Kerdjasama Nasional (BKN), to which PKI, PNI, SKI and Gerwani are affiliated, urged by resolution that the mayor be relieved of his post (text breaks off).
The Ali cabinet: PKI mass meeting with Umi Sardjono
De Locomotief, 1 June 1955: report of a PKI mass meeting in Jakarta where Aidit backs the Ali cabinet and urges peaceful election campaigning. Mrs Umi Sardjono, introduced as a non-party Gerwani member and PKI candidate, says she chose the PKI because it is a choice of being for or against the people. Date: the party's
Against the composition of the new cabinet: Semarang meeting rejects Burhanuddin cabinet
De Locomotief, 12 Aug 1955: a Semarang provincial meeting of mass and women's organisations rejects the new Burhanuddin cabinet and demands an all-party cabinet and elections on schedule. A five-person delegation to Jakarta represents workers (SOBSI), youth, women (Gerwani), peasants and ex-fighters. Shows Gerwani as t
Childcare centre planned for election day by Gerwani in Jombang
De Locomotief, 7 Sept 1955: the Gerwani branch in Jombang forms a committee, led by a Mrs Kenrati (uncertain), to set up a children's care centre during the coming general elections so mothers can vote calmly. Evidence of Gerwani's practical electoral support for women and childcare.
Central Java news: Salatiga election campaign schedule
De Locomotief, 23 Sept 1955, Central Java news: Salatiga campaign schedule lists Gerwani among parties with election meetings at the Gris Theatre (23 Sept afternoon), alongside Masjumi, PIR and PNI. The rest covers people's housing built in Salatiga.
Gerwani wants a democratic marriage law
De Locomotief, 29 Nov 1955: statement by Gerwani's central board (OCR partly garbled) calling for a democratic marriage law, citing the Maisuri forced-marriage case as proof that women's constitutional rights are violated. It urges women to be active in the Constituent Assembly elections and argues the 'first lady' deb
Gerwani on marriage: polygamy should in principle be forbidden
De Locomotief, 30 Nov 1955: Gerwani's central board announces its proposals for marriage regulation to the coming Constituante: marriage without coercion, free choice and equal rights; abolition of child, forced and purchase marriages and mistress-keeping; polygamy to be forbidden in principle, and if allowed on religi
Gerwani on marriage: full page with four-point marriage programme
Whole scrambled page of De Locomotief, 30 Nov 1955, with the fullest text of Gerwani's four-point marriage programme for the Constituante: no coercion, abolition of child, forced and purchase marriages and mistresses, polygamy forbidden in principle, divorce open to both sexes before a court and support for divorced wo
Lectures by Gerwani Semarang on women's rights and Regulation 19
De Locomotief, 30 Nov 1955: Gerwani Semarang held an evening of lectures by board members on women's rights and the inequality kept in force by Government Regulation 19 (1952 pensions for plural wives). Speakers recalled the organisation's help in vote counting and childcare centres during the elections. Text partly ga
Interpellation by communist MPs on foreign capital
De Locomotief, 28 Dec 1955: PKI parliamentarians Sakirman, Tjugito, Suwarti, Sumadi and Utarjo submit a written interpellation on foreign capital, claiming colonial-era extraction and restored monopoly under the 1949 RTC accords, with eight questions to the Burhanuddin government. Suwarti is a woman PKI MP; Gerwani is