With the war turning against them, the Japanese, who were occupying Indonesia, decided to grant independence in order to create problems for the returning Dutch colonial authorities.

On 7 August, the day after an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Lt. General Hisaichi Terauchi, commander of the Japanese Southern Area who was based in Saigon, gave permission for the formation of the Preparatory Committee for Indonesian Independence (PPKI).

[1] On 9 August, the day of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, the Japanese authorities flew future president Sukarno, Mohammad Hatta and BPUPK chairman Radjiman Wediodiningrat to Da Lat, French Indochina for a meeting with General Hisaichi Terauchi, the commander of the Southern Area.

It established a seven-member commission, including Sukarno, Hatta, Soepomo and Muhammad Yamin, to approve the constitution that had been started by the BPUPK in July and to make other changes.

One significant change was the removal from the constitution preamble of the obligation for Muslims to abide by Sharia law included in the Jakarta Charter as it was felt this would alienate Christians, as well as of the other religious faiths (Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism).