Burhanuddin Harahap (EVO: Boerhanoeddin Harahap; 12 February 1917 – 14 June 1987) was an Indonesian politician and lawyer who served as prime minister of Indonesia from August 1955 until March 1956. He was a member of the Masyumi Party and served as Minister of Defense concurrently with his tenure as prime minister. Afterward, he took part in the unsuccessful Revolutionary Government of the Republic of Indonesia (PRRI) rebellion in West Sumatra.
He was born into a Batak family in North Sumatra. He moved to Java to pursue higher education, becoming active in Islamic student organizations and enrolling in the Rechts Hogeschool in Batavia (now Jakarta) before his studies were interrupted by the Japanese invasion in 1942. During the Japanese occupation, he served as a public prosecutor in state courts in Jakarta and Yogyakarta. Following the proclamation of Indonesian independence, he became more involved in politics, joining Masyumi and rising through its ranks to become a prominent party member, becoming the leader of Masyumi's parliamentary faction by 1950.
In 1953, Burhanuddin contributed to the collapse of Prime Minister Wilopo's cabinet and unsuccessfully attempted to form a new cabinet. After the downfall of Prime Minister Ali Sastroamidjojo's first cabinet, he was given another chance and formed a caretaker government with the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and several minor political parties. As prime minister, Burhanuddin reversed many of his predecessor's policies. He adopted a pragmatic economic policy, abolishing the pro-indigenous Benteng program, while seeking to remove the influence of the Indonesian National Party and Indonesian Communist Party from the military and government. Additionally, his government initiated some measures towards Acehnese autonomy and dissolved the Netherlands-Indonesian Union in 1956. The poor performance of Masyumi in the 1955 election, however, weakened the cabinet's political position and alliance with NU. In the last weeks of his government, international negotiations over the Western New Guinea dispute broke down the coalition, with his tenure ending in March 1956.
Political tensions forced him to flee to Sumatra in 1957, and he joined PRRI upon its declaration in February 1958. Within PRRI, Burhanuddin was appointed minister of defense and justice in the revolutionary government's declared cabinet. Following continued military setbacks of the movement, the movement's leaders retreated into the jungles and mountains, and by August 1961 Burhanuddin had surrendered to authorities. Initially permitted to remain free, he was arrested in March 1962 and imprisoned until Sukarno's fall in 1966. Following his release, he largely left politics, although he took part in the 1980 Petition of Fifty documents, which criticized President Suharto's use of Pancasila against political opponents before he died in 1987.
Early life and career Burhanuddin was born in Medan on 12 February 1917, the second child of Mohammad Yunus, a low-ranking official in a public prosecutor's office, and his wife Siti Nurfiah. Yunus was of South Tapanuli Batak descent and was often reassigned to other locations across North Sumatra. Burhanuddin followed his father's reassignments, and he went to a Hollandsch-Inlandsche School in Bagansiapiapi. After graduating, he continued his education at a Meer Uitgebreid Lager Onderwijs in Padang, then an Algemene Middelbare School in Yogyakarta, from which he graduated in 1938. He continued his education at the Rechts Hogeschool (Batavia Law Institute), but his studies were interrupted by the Japanese invasion of the Dutch East Indies in 1942. He later resumed his law degree at Gadjah Mada University, completing it in 1951.
During his time in Yogyakarta, Burhanuddin joined the Jong Islamieten Bond in 1936, becoming its activist and local chair. When he moved to Batavia, he became the secretary of the Studenten Islam Studie-Club, an organization that had split off from the Bond in 1934. He also became a member of the . Along with Jusuf Wibisono and Mohammad Roem, Burhanuddin organized the publication of the Dutch-language journal Moslim Reveil espousing Indonesian Islamic nationalism.
Early political career
Between 1942 and 1948, Burhanuddin served as a public prosecutor in the Jakarta State Court and later the Yogyakarta State Court. When the Masyumi Islamic party was formed in November 1945, Burhanuddin became a member, although he did not initially hold any leadership position. Due to internal disputes within Masyumi, however, Burhanuddin became more involved and quickly went up the party ranks, being elected to a leadership position by 1949. He was also appointed by Sutan Sjahrir to the Working Body of the Central Indonesian National Committee in 1946. Burhanuddin, along with fellow Masyumi politician Kasman Singodimedjo, also lobbied the Indonesian Army in 1948 in favor of the Darul Islam movement and its founding of Islamist militia units during the Indonesian National Revolution. By 1950, Burhanuddin had become the leader of Masyumi's parliamentary faction in the Provisional People's Representative Council. During the prime ministership of Mohammad Natsir (a Masyumi member), Burhanuddin found himself within the wing of Masyumi which had significant disagreements with the prime minister, and he abstained in the parliamentary vote of confidence against Natsir in October 1950. In 1952, Burhanuddin became a member of Masyumi's Executive Committee.
Burhanuddin was also initially appointed Masyumi's representative to the Central Electoral Committee in April 1953 during the premiership of Wilopo, but disputes with the Indonesian National Party (PNI) over the committee composition caused it to fail to convene. Burhanuddin also contributed to the collapse of the cabinet later that year, when he threatened to withdraw Masyumi's support for the government over a successful motion to establish formal diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union. After the collapse of Wilopo's cabinet, two initial attempts at forming a new government by PNI and Masyumi failed, and after a series of negotiations between the two parties Burhanuddin was appointed formateur by President Sukarno on 8 July 1953. While Burhanuddin was acceptable to the PNI, and he was willing to make some concessions regarding policy and ministerial posts, the PNI rejected Burhanuddin's offer due to his selection of Indonesian Socialist Party (PSI) member Sumitro Djojohadikusumo as Finance Minister and PNI's desire for the prime ministership itself. Burhanuddin attempted to form a cabinet without PNI by including the Christian and Catholic Parties, but the two parties refused to participate in a government that excluded PNI. After this failure, Burhanuddin returned his mandate to Sukarno on 18 July, before the deadline given to him by Sukarno. His succeeding formateur, Wongsonegoro of the Great Indonesia Unity Party, managed to organize the First Ali Sastroamidjojo Cabinet which excluded Masyumi from ministerial posts.
Prime ministership (1955–1956)
Cabinet formation
Ali Sastroamidjojo's first cabinet collapsed in July 1955 due to tensions with the army, particularly caused by new appointments to the army high command following the resignation of chief of staff Bambang Soegeng. Vice President Mohammad Hatta first appointed Sukiman (Masyumi), Wilopo (PNI), and Assaat as cabinet formateurs, but they failed as their proposed Hatta-led cabinet would result in Hatta no longer becoming vice-president – unacceptable to Masyumi.
Burhanuddin, who was a relative of acting army chief of staff Zulkifli Lubis, was then appointed the new formateur. After negotiations, he secured a major concession from PNI – a willingness to accept a Masyumi prime minister – but could not reach a deal on appointed ministers. While Burhanuddin and PNI had agreed on which positions would be occupied by PNI ministers, Burhanuddin would not accept PNI's candidates, and vice versa with PNI on Burhanuddin's appointments. Burhanuddin then turned to the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and several minor political parties, and his cabinet was sworn in on 12 August 1955 – Burhanuddin serving as both prime minister and defense minister. His cabinet had 23 ministers – more than all previous cabinets. Most of the ministers – except Finance Minister Sumitro and Agriculture Minister Mohammad Sardjan – also had no previous cabinet experience.
Domestic policy and the 1955 election It was intended that the cabinet would return its mandate after the upcoming elections had concluded, effectively making it a caretaker government and limiting its ability to influence long-term policy. Burhanuddin's cabinet also suffered from a divergence of objectives of its constituent parties. While Masyumi (and PSI) aimed at reducing the political influence of the PNI and the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) within the government bureaucracy, many of the small political parties simply aimed to gain as much political clout as possible before their potential removal from parliament in upcoming 1955 elections. Regardless, the cabinet reversed many of its predecessor's policies, excluding nearly all ministers who had served in Ali's cabinet from its ranks. In addition to changes in the bureaucratic structure and personnel, Burhanuddin also called for another general amnesty for members of the Darul Islam rebellion in West Java. This was in opposition to Ali, who preferred the use of force. Working with the military, the cabinet also arrested and charged with corruption several high-ranking officials from the previous government, including former economic affairs minister Iskaq Tjokrohadisurjo and former justice minister Djody Gondokusumo. Despite NU and PSII also being Islamist parties, they had a significantly different support base to Masyumi, and resisted many of the proposed changes to the bureaucratic and economic structures of the country.
The Burhanuddin cabinet successfully passed a draft electoral law that would regulate the 1955 election. In the weeks leading up to the 1955 election, the cabinet also made several populist policies, including reducing petrol prices by nearly half and simplifying import regulations. While several members of the cabinet had argued for delaying elections, it was decided that the election would be mostly held on schedule, on 29 September 1955. Although initially many expected that Masyumi would come in first, the election produced a weak result for Masyumi with PNI instead winning the most seats while NU's position in the parliament was strengthened. This complicated the coalition between the two especially with Masyumi's minor party allies being wiped out of parliament and the PSI losing most of its seats. While Burhanuddin's coalition still held a narrow majority in parliament, NU and PSII now held much more sway. As a result of the shifting balance of political power, Masyumi opted to back out from supporting an anticorruption bill in parliament, which could have antagonized the NU and received a presidential veto. Under NU pressure, Burhanuddin also agreed to appoint Abdul Haris Nasution – who had previously lost his post due to the 17 October affair in 1952 – back to his old position as army chief of staff. Before this, Burhanuddin already liked Nasution personally – they were both of South Tapanuli descent – and had offered him a post in his cabinet.