Two years later, at the Second Malino Conference, representatives of the self-governing regions in the State of East Indonesia met and proposed a law establishing the senate.

[6] Under the proposed definitive constitution, the Senate would have had the power to delay legislation for up to a year, although this could be overruled by a two-thirds vote in the Representative Assembly.

It would act as an advisory body to the government, which would have to consult it on proposed legislation related to the self-governing areas, which the Senate could veto.

Aristocratic rulers governed 70 percent of the total area of East Indonesia, so the Senate as formed allowed these rulers to retain the powers they had had under Dutch role, while allowing the Dutch to exercise political control over the state.

The body was officially inaugurated by the President of East Indonesia, Tjokorda Gde Raka Soekawati, on 28 May 1949.