After the dismissal of a pro-government officer in July 1952, the parliament began demanding a significant restructuring of armed forces leadership.

Beyond the demobilization, the Indonesian Army had also undergone a "reorganization" program involving many demotions or transfers of local military commanders, which was unpopular among them.

[6] Between June and July 1952, one Colonel Bambang Supeno, a distant relative of Sukarno's, began to gather support to petition for the removal of Nasution from army leadership.

[7][8] After a tense meeting of regional commanders and a letter from Supeno criticizing his superiors to the civilian government, he was removed from his post on 17 July.

[9] Following Supeno's dismissal, the parliament began issuing demands to restructure the Indonesian Army's leadership and the Ministry of Defense, particularly removing Simatupang and Nasution.

[12] Around that time, the highest-ranking regional army commanders had gathered in Jakarta for a meeting, including Maludin Simbolon, A. E. Kawilarang, and Gatot Subroto.

More importantly, a stronger motion by the PNI's Manai Sophiaan, which allowed civilian politicians to alter the armed forces' leadership, also passed on 16 October.

The group collectively presented a petition to Vice President Mohammad Hatta, and on several occasions Dutch flags were taken off flagpoles and torn up.

[21] According to historian Ruth McVey, the officers would have likely accepted a compromise, whereas the parliament would remain but would no longer interfere with army leadership.

[22] Sukarno, however, refused to either dissolve parliament, to make public statements supporting the army, or to propose a compromise otherwise, and he sent away the officers after previously promising that he would satisfy all parties.

[17] The army failed to achieve its objective of mobilizing demonstrators to coerce Sukarno, and its high command faced internal and external replacements.

[23] In the four cities serving as the headquarters of the unchanged territorial commands – Medan, Bandung, Semarang, and Banjarmasin – anti-parliament demonstrations occurred after 17 October.