Type of Government

Indonesia's government type is Republic, sort of like the US. It is a democracy. They are a Republican Democracy with a Legal System. The Legal System is based on Roman - Dutch Law, but greatly modified by native concepts and by new criminal procedures and election codes. Indonesia's Independance was on August 17, 1945. There National Independance Day is on August 17.

The People in the Government

Heads of State and Cabinet Members

Indonesia

President - Susilo Bambang YUDHOYONO
Vice President - Jusuf KALLA
Coordinating Min. for Economic Affairs - BOEDIONO
Coordinating Min. for the People's Welfare - Aburizal BAKRIE
Coordinating Min. for Political, Legal, & Security Affairs - WIDODO Adi Sutjipto
Min. of Agriculture - Anton APRIYANTONO
Min. for Communication & Information - Sofyan A. DJALIL
Min. for Cooperatives & Small & Medium Enterprises - Suryadharma ALI
Min. of Culture & Tourism - Jero WACIK
Min. of Defense - Juwono SUDARSONO
Min. for the Development of Disadvantaged Regions - SYAIFULLAH Yusuf
Min. of Education - Bambang SUDIBYO
Min. for Energy & Mineral Resources - PURNOMO Yusgiantoro
Min. for the Environment - Rachmat WITOELAR
Min. of Finance - SRI MULYANI Indrawati
Min. of Foreign Affairs - Noer Hasan WIRAJUDA
Min. of Forestry - M. S. KABAN
Min. of Health - Siti Fadilah SUPARI
Min. of Home Affairs - Muhammad MA'RUF
Min. of Industry - Andung NITIMIHARJA
Min. of Justice & Human Rights - HAMID Awaluddin
Min. of Manpower & Transmigration - Fahmi IDRIS
Min. of Maritime Affairs & Fisheries - Freddy NUMBERI
Min. for National Development Planning - Paskah SUZETTA
Min. for People's Housing - Mohammad Yusuf ASYARI
Min. of Public Works - Joko KIRMANTO
Min. of Religion - Muhammad Maftuh BASYUNI
Min. of Research & Technology - KUSMAYANTO Kadiman
Min. of Social Affairs - Bachtiar CHAMSYAH
Min. for State Apparatus Reform - Taufiq EFFENDI
Min. for State-Owned Enterprises - SUGIHARTO
Min. of Trade - Mari Elka PANGESTU
Min. of Transportation - Hatta RAJASA
Min. for Women's Empowerment - Meutia Farida HATTA Swasono
Min. for Youth & Sports - Adhyaksa DAULT
Attorney General - Abdul Rahman SALEH
Cabinet Secretary - Sudi SILALAHI
State Secretary - Yusril Izha MAHENDRA
Director, State Intelligence Agency (BIN) (Acting) - Said Ali AS'AT
Governor, Bank Indonesia - Burhanuddin ABDULLAH
Ambassador to the US - SUDJADNAN Parnohadiningrat
Ambassador to the United Nations - Rezlan Izhar Jen
Permanent Representative to the UN, New York - Rezlan Ishar JENIE


The President of Indonesia












Vice President of Indonesia












Minister of Foreign Affairs ( sitting on the right )








Ambassador to the United States












Ambassador to the United Nations ( sitting in the front )

The Right to Vote

Anyone can vote if you are 17 or older. Also, if you are married ( it does not matter the age ).

Branches of the Government

There are three main branches of the Indonesian Government: Executive, Legislative, and the Judicial.

The head of the Executive branch is the President. President Susilo Bambang Yudoyono has been the the President since October 20, 2004. Then there is the Vice President, Jusuf Kalla who has been in office since October 20, 2004. The President and Vice President are elected for a five year term. The President appoints the Cabinet.

In the Legislative branch there is the House of Representatives. There are 550 members in the House of Representatives. Each are elected. They are elected for one 5 year term. Then there is the House of Regional Representatives. There job is to provide legislative input to the House of Representatives on issues that deal with the regions. Next there is the People's Consultative Assembly. Their role is to introduce to the president serious crimes and make minor changes to the Constitution. All of the members of the House of Representatives, House of Regional Representatives and People's Consultative are elected.

The Judicial branch deals with crime and punishment. The Supreme Court is the head of this branch. Next is the Constitutional Court. The Constitutional Court was invested by the president on August 16, 2003. The Supreme Court took administrative and financial responsibility for the lower court system. The Labor Court is now under supervision by the Supreme Court as of January 2006.

The Constitution

The constitution has five principles of Indonesia's philosophy called Pancasila. They are : namely monotheism, humanitarianism, national unity, representative democracy by consensus, and social justice. Monotheism is a belief that there is only one God. Humanitarianism means tought that humankind can become perfect without a divine helper. Representative democracy by consensus is the person who gets the most votes wins! Social Justice is to treat everyone fairly.

To Gain and Lose Power

The President and Vice President are elected, so are each one of the Ministers, etc. That is how they gain power. They lose power by not getting elected. The House of Representatives, the House of Regional Representatives, and the People's Consultative Assembly are all elected by the people. The Cabinet and the Supreme Court are the only people appointed by the President, everyone else are elected and are fair game.

The Relationship with the People

The people elect the Government. So, if they want you to be their President they will vote for you. The people vote for the government and expect the government to do what the people want and to do a good job. If they don't then the people will not vote for them again. Some people could even run in an election if they chose too.