GOVERNMENT OF INDONESIA

Press, Volume LXXXVI, Issue 26211, 7 September 1950, Page 7

GOVERNMENT OF INDONESIA

MEMBERS OF NEW CABINET (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) (Rec. 10 p.m.) JAKARTA,. September 6. The formation of Indonesia’s new multi-party Parliamentary Government, with 18 Ministers, was announced to-day by Mr Mohammed Natsir, who will be Prime Minister without any other specific, portfolio. The Sultan of Jogjakarta becomes Deputy Prime Minister and is specifically in charge of the co-ordination of security. Mr Mohammed Roem, the present Indonesian High Commissioner at The Hague becomes Foreign Minister; the former Premier of tne now uexiinct Jogjakarta ' Government. Dr. Abdul Halim, becomes Defence Minister; and the former acting President of the Jogjakarta Government, Dr. Assat, becomes Minister for Home Affairs. The Nationalists, although they are the second largest party in the country, find no place in Mr Natsir’s Cabinent, which, he said, was constituted on the basis of “the right man in the right place” after negotiations with the Nationalists had yielded ho results. In his first interview as Prime Minister, Mr Natsir said that one of the main tasks of his Government would be to settle the West New Guinea issue—by negotiation with the Dutch —within this year, as provided in The Hague round-table agreement. Indonesia’s foreign policy would continue to be an “independent” one, said Mr Natsir. Other main tasks for the Government. he said, would be to prepare for general elections as soon as possible with a view to convening the Constituent Assembly, to gain internal consolidation, and to stimulate “self-activity” among the people in all spheres, and to pursue reconstruction with a view to achieving a higher standard of living.