Word: sumatra
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JAKARTA, Indonesia, Thursday, March 14--Premier Ali Sastroamidjojo resigned today. His government was toppled by bloodless revolts in east Indonesia and Sumatra...
Like a cluster of overripe bananas, the Republic of Indonesia was slowly disintegrating. For more than two months the satraps of oil-and rubber-rich Central and South Sumatra to the west had been defying the authority of the central government in Djakarta. Last week four provinces of East Indonesia followed the Sumatrans into revolt...
Ostensibly, Sumual's demands were much the same as those of the Sumatra rebels: autonomy within the Indonesian Republic, plus local control of the foreign exchange earned by East Indonesia's exports. But in Djakarta, Indonesian army spokesmen suggested that the spark which set off the revolt was Sukarno's plan to bring the Communists into a reorganized Indonesian government (TIME, March 4). Unless Sukarno backs down, he might one day find that he is President of little more than the island of Java...
Nobody could deny that Indonesia's government needs some kind of rejuvenation. Large chunks of Sumatra. Indonesia's richest island, have been in open revolt. Deprived of much of the revenue from Sumatra's exports (oil, tin and rubber), the central government has been forced to issue an emergency decree lowering the legal ratio of gold to paper currency from 20% to 15%. For nearly three months the crumbling Cabinet of hapless Premier Ali Sastroamidjojo has clung to office largely on Sukarno's insistence...
Recognizing that anyone who wants to govern Indonesia must have the support of the army, Ali was at last prepared to pay well for that support. In the six weeks since the revolts began, Ali's government has promoted more than 100 army officers, including many in rebellious Sumatra. Last week, in yet another conciliatory gesture, the Premier dispatched Army Chief of Staff Nasution to Sumatra. Nasution's prime task: to coax Colonel Maludin Simbolon, most popular of the Sumatra rebels, out of his jungle hideout and "reconcile" him to the government...