Standing on a podium at the Merdeka Palace on Sunday, July 5, 1959, President Sukarno's eyes showed exhaustion, but that afternoon his voice still thundered. "…with the support of the majority of the Indonesian people and spurred by my own conviction, I am forced to take the only way out to save the Independent Nation!"

Most people listening to the presidential decree announcement roared and applauded in approval. For the politicians, howev