The liberal democracy period in Indonesia, from the re-establishment of a unitary republic in 1950 until the declaration of martial law[1] in 1957, saw the rise and fall of six cabinets, the longest-lasting surviving for just under two years.

In 1957, Indonesia faced a series of crises, including the beginning of the Permesta rebellion in Makassar and the army takeover of authority in South Sumatra, due to the increasing dissatisfaction of non-Javanese Indonesians to the centralization policy implemented by Jakarta.

[2] In March 1957, Sukarno accepted the Army chief of staff General Abdul Haris Nasution's proposal for a declaration of martial law across the whole nation.

[3]: 243 In the face of a growing political crisis amid splits in the cabinet, Prime Minister Ali Sastroamidjojo resigned on 14 March from his position in Sukarno's presence.

He was impressed with the progress made there since the Civil War, and concluded that this was due to the strong leadership of Mao Zedong, whose centralisation of power was in sharp contrast to the political disorder in Indonesia.

The centerpiece would be a 'mutual co-operation' cabinet of the major parties advised by a National Council (Indonesian: Dewan Nasional) of functional groups, while the legislature would not be abolished.

[5] Meanwhile, the National Armed Forces, especially the Army, was already trying to enhance their political role by establishing functional groups of their own with efforts by the officer corps.

He also used martial law to arrest several politicians for alleged corruption, while regional army commanders restricted party activities, particularly those of the PKI, whose headquarters in Jakarta was attacked in July.

[citation needed] In an attempt to unify the polarization of politics in Indonesia,[6][7] Sukarno created a manifesto, Manipol/USDEK, that was mandated to be taught in schools during the Guided Democracy Era.

The official book on Manipol/USDEK consists of President Sukarno's speech titled "Rediscovery of Our Revolution" made on the 14th Independence Day of the Republic of Indonesia on 17 August 1959.

These rebellions were launched as reactions to Sukarno's seizure of parliamentarian power, the increasing influence of the Communists, the corruption and mismanagement of the central government, and against the domination by Java of the outer islands.

On 10 February 1958, rebels including army officers and Masyumi leaders meeting in Padang, Sumatra, issued an ultimatum to the government demanding the return of parliamentary system, through the dissolution of the cabinet, elections and Sukarno's position as a figurehead role.

Under the Provisional Constitution of 1950, the president's role was largely ceremonial as head of state, though Sukarno commanded great moral authority due to his status as Father of the Nation.

[3]: 254 After the dissolution of the Constitutional Assembly, Sukarno banned Masyumi in 1960 due to its leaders' ties with the PRRI and strong opposition against the new form of government.

The representation of Islamic parties in the parliament were down to 25 percent, while Nahdlatul Ulama's influence also reduced even though its official stance was to support the implementation of guided democracy.

However, the army's successes in defeating various rebellions, including the PRRI and the Darul Islam movement in west Java meant that Nasution still had the initiative.

Later that year, the PKI began a "unilateral action" (Indonesian: aksi sepihak) campaign to implement the 1959–60 land reform laws, which led to violent conflict with NU supporters.

Therefore, in December 1960, Sukarno established the Supreme Operations Command (KOTI), to ensure that the campaign to liberate West Irian from the Dutch would not be controlled by the military.

[25][26] On 23 February 1957, a thirteen country–sponsored resolution (Bolivia, Burma, Ceylon, Costa Rica, Ecuador, India, Iraq, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, and Yugoslavia) calling for the United Nations to appoint a "good offices commission" for West New Guinea was submitted to the UN General Assembly.

[27] Following a sustained period of harassment against Dutch diplomatic representatives in Jakarta, the Indonesian government formally severed relations with the Netherlands in August 1960.

During a visit to the Netherlands, the New Zealand Prime Minister Walter Nash suggested the idea of a united New Guinea state, consisting of both Dutch and Australian territories.

Later that year, the Malayan Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman proposed a three-step initiative, which involved West New Guinea coming under United Nations trusteeship.

This solution involved the two belligerents, Indonesia and the Netherlands, re-establishing bilateral relations and the return of Dutch assets and investments to their owners.

[29] On 23 November 1961, the Indian delegation at the United Nations presented a draft resolution calling for the resumption of Dutch–Indonesian talks on terms which favoured Indonesia.

On 27 November 1961, both the Francophone African (52-41-9) and Indian (41-40-21) resolutions were put to the vote failed to gain a two–thirds majority at the United Nations General Assembly.

He also ordered the creation of a special People's Triple Command or Tri Komando Rakyat (Trikora) with the objective of 'liberating' West New Guinea by 1 January 1963.

In preparation for the planned invasion, the Mandala command began making land, air, and sea incursions into West Irian.

This operation was to be carried out in four phases and would have involved joint air and naval strikes against Dutch airfields, paratroop and amphibious landings at Biak and Sentani, and a ground assault on the territory's capital Hollandia.

[citation needed] Meanwhile, the army led by Lt. General Ahmad Yani became increasingly concerned with the worsening domestic situation and began to secretly contact the Malaysian government, while managing to obstruct the confrontation to minimal level.

The Soviet Union was anxious to reduce the influence of the China-oriented PKI, while the US was worried about communism per se, and large numbers of Indonesian officers travelled to the US for military training.