Jakarta sets up National Council: Sukarno names members (New York Times, 16 June 1957)
New York Times, 16 June 1957, p.37, Special to the Times from Jakarta: Sukarno names the 45 members of the new National Council (Dewan Nasional), chaired by himself, with Roeslan Abdulgani as deputy chairman and secretary-general. About a quarter are described as Communists or sympathisers, including PKI member Sujono
Parliament fairly sympathetic to emergency law
Het Nieuwsblad voor Sumatra (19 Jun 1957, p.1): parliamentary debate on the state-of-emergency bill replacing the colonial SOB regime. Speakers (Munir/PNI, Tambunan, Soeprapto, Amin Iskandar, Arudji Kartawinata) mostly accept it. Mrs Salawati Daud (PKI) stresses her faction's view that the law must primarily protect th
Close of general debates on state of emergency
Algemeen Indisch Dagblad (1957-06-20, p. 2): report of the closing general debates in parliament on the state-of-emergency (SOB) bill, with 24 speakers from PNI, Parkindo, Pembangunan, NU, PSII, Masyumi and PKI. Mrs. Salawati (PKI) warns against abuse of power and weak oversight, wanting the law aimed at separatists an
Mrs Salawati Daud expelled, accused of PKI membership (Monthly Indonesian Press Survey, Aug 1957)
US State Department press-survey page (Aug 1957) from a Makassar-area report: the Sangihe Talaud youth and student organisation expelled several members, among them Mrs Salawati Daud and Dolongpaha, who were accused of being PKI members. The page begins mid-article; the sweep identifies the woman as Salawati Daud, a Ge
Veterans bill in parliament
Het Nieuwsblad voor Sumatra (20 Aug 1957, p.2): parliament begins first-round debate on the veterans' welfare bill; eight members speak, among them Mrs Salawati Daud (PKI). Minister Chaerul Saleh adds an oral statement and says a veterans law is needed to register veterans and define them. The government will accept am
Indonesian parliament wants more concrete Sukarno-Hatta cooperation
Ons Noorden (27 Sep 1957) on the parliamentary debate after the national consultation conference. PKI MP Suharti Suwarto sharply criticised the revolutionary councils in Sumatra and Celebes for arresting local communist leaders, warning the conference decisions cannot work until they are freed. Other speakers urge Suka
History of Jakarta City Government (Greater Jakarta Municipality, 1958)
Sedjarah Pemerintahan Kota Djakarta, an official history of Jakarta's city government from Dutch Batavia to the end of 1957, compiled by Drs. The Liang Gie and published by the Kotapradja Djakarta Raya in 1958. It has nothing on Gerwani as such. It notes that women could vote for the Batavia council only from 1941 and
Sukarno, the arch-intriguer
Nieuwe Haarlemsche Courant, 6 February 1958, p. 5: long profile of Sukarno by former correspondent C.H. Schaap, calling him an 'arch-intriguer' bent on absolute power, tracing his career to the 1957 cabinet. It mentions that his October 1954 second marriage to Hartini caused general indignation among Indonesian women,
President Sukarno brings new strength to the Indonesian people (Renmin Ribao, 17 February 1958)
Renmin Ribao commentary, 17 Feb 1958, p. 5: praises Sukarno's nine-nation tour, backs Indonesia's West Irian claim and calls the PRRI/Permesta rebels imperialist-instigated. Notes that SOBSI, Pemuda Rakjat, Gerwani, BTI and seventeen Sumatran organisations backed the arrest of the rebels, and cites Aidit's call to brin
President Sukarno brings new strength to the Indonesian people (Renmin Ribao, 17 February 1958)
Renmin Ribao commentary, 17 Feb 1958, p. 5: praises Sukarno's nine-nation tour, backs Indonesia's West Irian claim and calls the PRRI/Permesta rebels imperialist-instigated. Notes that SOBSI, Pemuda Rakjat, Gerwani, BTI and seventeen Sumatran organisations backed the arrest of the rebels, and cites Aidit's call to brin
Page 564 of the US State Department's Monthly Indonesian Press Survey (nos. 33-44, 1958), summarising the 25 Sept 1958 Nusantara. Suwardiningsih, PKI East Java committee and Constituent Assembly member, entered Kalisosok prison, Surabaya, on 22 Sept to serve a month (cut from six) for remarks about Hatta in 1953; thous
Speech of Suwardiningsih (PKI East Java) at the Sixth National Congress, 1959
Short speech by Suwardiningsih of the PKI East Java committee at the Sixth Congress (1959), claiming only the second PKI congress to attend to work among women and asking what attracts women to the PKI: equal rights in voting, marriage and divorce.
Pravda, 25 Jan 1959: PKI delegation at the 21st CPSU Congress
Pravda, 25 Jan 1959 (No. 25), p. 1 only (machine-translated): TASS notice that delegations of the Communist Parties of Indonesia (D.N. Aidit, Nursuhud, Karel Supit, P.O. Hutapea and 'Suharti, a responsible worker of the CC apparatus') and India arrived for the CPSU 21st Congress. Suharti (identified in the catalogue as
Pravda, 25 Jan 1959: PKI delegation to 21st CPSU Congress, including Suharti (excerpt)
Keyword-hit excerpt of Pravda, No. 25, 25 Jan 1959 (TASS): arrival in Moscow of the PKI delegation to the 21st CPSU Congress on 21 January: D. N. Aidit (head), Nursuhud, Karel Supit, P. O. Hutapea (editor of Bintang Merah) and Suharti, 'a responsible worker of the apparatus of the CC of the CPI'; Indian delegation also
Literaturnaia Gazeta, 3 Feb 1959: 21st CPSU Congress; PKI delegation at a Moscow factory
Front page of Literaturnaia Gazeta, 3 Feb 1959, reporting the extraordinary 21st CPSU Congress. Indonesia appears only in a report of foreign communist delegations at Moscow factories: D. N. Aidit and 'comrade Suharti' (PKI Central Committee representative, speaking for Indonesian women, identification unconfirmed) add
Pravda, 3 Feb 1959: Suharti greets Moscow factory workers (excerpt)
Keyword-hit excerpt of Pravda, No. 34, 3 Feb 1959, on foreign communist delegations visiting Moscow factories during the 21st CPSU Congress. At the Moscow Electric Lamp Factory D. N. Aidit spoke, and Suharti, PKI Central Committee representative, greeted workers 'on behalf of Indonesian women workers' (wording ambiguou
Aidit returns to Jakarta (Renmin Ribao, 9 April 1959)
Renmin Ribao, 9 Apr 1959, p. 4 (Xinhua, Jakarta): PKI delegation led by Aidit returns from the CPSU's 21st Congress via China and Vietnam. Gerwani leaders are named only among those greeting it at the airport, with Njono, PKI MPs, SOBSI and Pemuda Rakjat.
Aidit returns to Jakarta (Renmin Ribao, 9 April 1959)
Renmin Ribao, 9 Apr 1959, p. 4 (Xinhua, Jakarta): PKI delegation led by Aidit returns from the CPSU's 21st Congress via China and Vietnam. Gerwani leaders are named only among those greeting it at the airport, with Njono, PKI MPs, SOBSI and Pemuda Rakjat.
US State Department press-survey page (June 1959) citing Harian Rakjat, 27 June 1959: the Indonesia-German Democratic Republic Friendship League was formed in Jakarta on 26 June, with Prof. Sutarman first chairman and Mrs Suwarti Suradi second chairman (identified by the sweep as Suwarti Bintang Suradi). The page also
FBIS, 7 July 1959: Parties express support of Sukarno (1945 constitution decree)
FBIS summary (7 Jul 1959) of a broadcast report to Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific on reactions to Sukarno's decree reinstating the 1945 constitution and dissolving the Constituent Assembly: Catholic Party, Democratic Youth, film union, PKI, economic congress and SOBSI supported it. Final line: the Indonesian Wo
Tages-Anzeiger, 11 July 1959: Indonesia on the road to dictatorship
Tages-Anzeiger analysis (11 July 1959, signed Th. v. R.) of Sukarno's return to the 1945 constitution and the army's rising power under Nasution. Lists PKI-linked mass organisations, giving Gerwani 75,000 members alongside SOBSI, Pemuda Rakyat, BTI, and notes PKI's 1957 vote.
CIA Current Intelligence Weekly Summary, 12 November 1959
CIA Current Intelligence Weekly Summary, 12 Nov 1959, a long multi-topic report; the Indonesia part (pp.23-27) assesses PKI strength (Aidit's claim of 1.5 million members, Java as base, army and Sukarno restrictions, Aidit's 1959 Moscow and Peking trip). It names GERWANI as the PKI's women's front, alongside Pemuda Rak
40 Years of the PKI
'40 Tahun PKI', compiled by the PKI History Institute (Lembaga Sejarah PKI) for the party's 40th anniversary, Yayasan Pembaruan, Jakarta 1960, following D.N. Aidit's 'Lahirnya PKI dan perkembangannya'. A party-line history from the 1920 founding through the 1926 uprising, Japanese occupation, revolution and the VI Cong
Documents of the Sixth National Congress of the PKI, Jakarta, 1-14 September 1959, Vol. I
Bintang Merah special issue, vol. 1: documents of the VI National Congress of the PKI, Jakarta 7-14 September 1959 (Yayasan Pembaruan, 1960). Contains Aidit's opening speech, the Central Committee's General Report, and Programme and Constitution changes. Gerwani is not named; on women it records growing women's members
The Marriage Law, 1960 (PKI Women's Department)
PKI Women's Department brochure (March 1960) comparing the PKI fraction's 1957 marriage-law draft with the PNI initiative bill of Soemari clause by clause (monogamy, consent, age, registration), with Suharti's article.
Weekly Situation Reports, Indonesia, January 1960 (State Department Central Files)
Compilation of Djakarta embassy weekly political, economic and military situation telegrams to the State Department, January 1960. One item (21 Jan) reports labour union and women representatives picketing the Trade Minister's office over prices despite an army ban, with a newspaper identifying many women as members of
Indonesian Defense Affairs: Biographical Profiles, April 1960
Compilation of US embassy Djakarta despatches (April 1960) giving biographical profiles of members of the Supreme Advisory Council and other leaders. Gerwani appears in the profile of PSII chairman Arudji Kartawinata, whose wife was a Gerwani member (1954) and praised China after a Nov 1959 Beijing visit; women members
Anti-Dutch agitation again in Indonesia: Gerwani urges confiscation of Dutch capital
Short De Telegraaf wire item (17 May 1960, AP): the oil workers' union Perboem and Gerwani, described as affiliated with the Indonesian communist party, urged the government to confiscate Dutch capital in Dutch Shell during the nationalisation of Dutch interests.
Seizure of Shell capital in Indonesia demanded
Short Eindhovensch Dagblad AP item (17 May 1960, p.4): two communist-led organisations urged Jakarta to seize Dutch capital in Shell. The oil workers' union Perboem backs nationalisation, and the PKI-affiliated women's organisation Gerwani presses for seizure of Dutch capital 'still hidden' in mixed enterprises.
New anti-Dutch demonstrations
Ons Noorden (17 May 1960): amid anti-Dutch demonstrations, the oil union Perboem and the PKI-affiliated women's organisation Gerwani urge the government to seize remaining Dutch capital in mixed enterprises such as Shell, BPM and Unilever. Demonstrations continue in Bandung, Surabaya and Semarang.