Text of the Linggadjati Agreement
[Signed on March 25, 1947, between the Netherlands Commission-General
and the Delegation of the Republic of Indonesia]
Preamble - The Netherlands Government, represented by the
Commission-General for the Netherlands Indies, and the Government of the
Republic of Indonesia, represented by the Indonesian delegation, moved by a
sincere desire to ensure good relations between the peoples of the Netherlands
and Indonesia in new forms of voluntary co-operation which offer the best
guarantee for sound and strong development of both countries in the future and
which make it possible to give a new foundation to the relationship between the
two peoples; agree as follows and will submit this agreement at the shortest
possible notice for the approval of the respective parliaments:
Article 1 - The Netherlands Government recognizes the
Government of the Republic of Indonesia as exercising de facto authority
over Java, Madura and Sumatra. The areas occupied by Allied or Netherlands
forces shall be included gradually, through mutual co-operation, in Republican
territory. To this end, the necessary measures shall at once be taken in order
that this inclusion shall be completed at the latest on the date mentioned in
Article 12.
Article 2 - The Netherlands Government and the Government of
the Republic shall co-operate in the rapid formation of a sovereign democratic
State on a federal basis to be called the United States of Indonesia.
Article 3 - The United States of Indonesia shall comprise the
entire territory of the Netherlands Indies with the provision, however, that in
case the population of any territory, after due consultation with the other
territories, should decide by democratic process that they are not, or not yet,
willing to join the United States of Indonesia, they can establish a special
relationship for such a territory to the United States of Indonesia and to the
Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Article 4 - The component parts of the United States of
Indonesia shall be the Republic of Indonesia, Borneo, and the Great East
without prejudice to the right of the population of any territory to decide by
democratic process that its position in the United States of Indonesia shall be
arranged otherwise.
Without derogation of the provisions of
Article 3 and of the first paragraph of this Article, the United States of
Indonesia may make special arrangements concerning the territory of its
capital.
Article 5 - The constitution of the United States of Indonesia
shall be determined by a constituent assembly composed of the democratically
nominated representatives of the Republic and of the other future partners of
the United States of Indonesia to which the following paragraph of this Article
shall apply.
Both parties shall consult each other on the
method of participation in this constituent assembly by the Republic of
Indonesia, by the territories not under the authority of the Republic and by
the groups of the population not, or insufficiently, represented with due
observance of the responsibility of the Netherlands Government and the
Government of the Republic, respectively. Article 6 - To promote the joint
interests of the Netherlands and Indonesia, the Netherlands Government and the
Government of the Republic of Indonesia shall co-operate in the establishment
of a Netherlands Indonesian Union by which the Kingdom of the Netherlands,
comprising the Netherlands, the Netherlands Indies, Surinam and Curacao, shall
be converted into the said Union consisting on the one had of the Kingdom of
the Netherlands, comprising the Netherlands, Surinam and Curacao, and on the
other hand the United States of Indonesia.
The foregoing paragraph does not exclude the
possibility of a further arrangement of the relations between the Netherlands,
Surinam and Curacao.
Article 7 –
A The Netherlands Indonesian Union shall have its own
organs to promote the joint interests of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the
United States of Indonesia.
B These organs shall be formed by the Governments of
the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the United States of Indonesia and, if
necessary, by the parliaments of those countries.
C The joint interests shall be
considered to be co-operation on foreign relations, defence and, as far as
necessary, finance as well as subjects of an economic or cultural nature.
Article 8 - The King (Queen) of the Netherlands shall be at the
head of the Netherlands Indonesian Union. Decrees and resolutions concerning
the joint interests shall be issued by the organs of the Union in the King's
(Queen's) name.
Article 9 - In order to promote the interests of the United
States of Indonesia in the Netherlands and of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in
Indonesia, a High Commissioner shall be appointed by the respective
Governments.
Article 10 - Statutes of the Netherlands Indonesian Union shall,
furthermore, contain provisions regarding:
A Safeguarding
of the rights of both parties towards one another and guarantees for the
fulfilment of their mutual obligations.
B. Mutual exercise of civil rights by Netherlands and
Indonesian citizens.
C Regulations containing provisions in case no
agreement can be reached by the organs of the Union.
D Regulation of the manner and conditions of the
assistance to be given by the services of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the
United States of Indonesia as long as the services of the latter are not, or
are insufficiently, organized; and
E Safeguarding in both parts of the Union of the fundamental
human rights and liberties referred to in the Charter of the United Nations
Organization.
Article 11 –
A The statutes of the Netherlands Indonesian Union
shall be drafted by a conference of representatives of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
and the future United States of Indonesia.
B The statutes shall come into effect after approval by
the respective parliaments.
Article 12 -The Netherlands Government and the Government of the
Republic of Indonesia shall endeavour to establish the United States of
Indonesia and the Netherlands Indonesian Union before January 1, 1949.
Article 13 - The Netherlands Government shall forthwith take the
necessary steps in order to obtain the admission of the United States of
Indonesia as a Member of the United Nations Organization immediately after the
formation of the Netherlands Indonesian Union.
Article 14 - The Government of the Republic of Indonesia
recognizes the claims of all non-Indonesians to the restoration of their rights
and the restitution of their goods as far as they are exercised or to be found
in the territory over which it exercises de facto authority. A joint
commission will be set up to effect this restoration and restitution.
Article 15 - In order to reform the Government of the Indies in
such a way that its composition and procedure shall conform as closely as
possible to the recognition of the Republic of Indonesia and to its projected
constitutional structure, the Netherlands Government, pending the realization
of the United States of Indonesia and of the Netherlands Indonesian Union,
shall forthwith initiate the necessary legal measures to adjust the
constitutional and international position of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the
new situation.
Article 16 - Directly after the conclusion of this agreement,
both parties shall proceed to reduce their armed forces. They will consult
together concerning the extent and rate of this reduction and their
co-operation in military matters.
Article 17 –
A For the co-operation between the Netherlands
Government and the Government of the Republic contemplated in this agreement,
an organization shall be called into existence of delegations to be appointed
by each of the two Governments with a joint secretariat.
B The Netherlands Government and the Government of the
Republic of Indonesia shall settle by arbitration any dispute which might arise
from this agreement and which cannot be solved by joint consultation in
conference between those delegations. In that case a chairman of another
nationality with a deciding vote shall be appointed by agreement between the
delegations or, if such agreement cannot be reached, by the President of the
International Court of Justice.
Article 18 - This agreement shall be drawn up in the Netherlands
and Indonesian languages. Both texts shall have equal authority.
Background from - Steiner, H. Arthur, “POST-WAR GOVERNMENT OF THE
NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES”, The Journal of Politics
vol. 9, no. 4 (Nov. 1947), pp. 632-635
See also
- Text
and Comments on the Radio
address by Queen Wilhelmina on 7 December 1942
- Dutch Proposals for Indonesian Settlement
6 November 1945
- Dutch Proposals for Indonesian
Settlement 10 March 1946
- Text
and Comments on the Renville
Political Principles
- Politionele acties ('police actions') - Wikipedia