Pemilihan Umum (Pemilu) 1955 di Medan

Abstract

This study examines the General Elections in Medan City in 1955, this study aims to (1) describe the condition of Medan ahead of the 1955 General Elections when Medan was still experiencing instability in the social sphere; (2) explaining the inter-party contestation in the 1955 Election in Medan, each political party carried out its intrigues or campaigns to get the votes of the people of Medan; (3) explaining the 1955 General Election in Medan, Medan in general was very enthusiastic in welcoming this first democratic party, all aspects were carefully prepared by each General Election executive committee. This study it self uses a political approach by using the concept of political parties and general elections to analyze the problems that have been proposed. In the research process, the method used is the historical method, which consists of heuristics, source criticism, interpretation, and historiography. The sources used were archives, documents, minutes of cabinet meetings, contemporary newspapers, contemporary articles, contemporary magazines, contemporary books and relevant literature in this study. These sources have been collected, criticized and then interpreted and reconstructed into historical research. The results of the study show that during the decade of independence Medan experienced instability, especially in the socio- economic field. Many communities did not yet have settlements, resulting in land occupation in former plantation areas. In addition, cases of theft and smuggling were rampant during this period. The condition of Medan which is less supportive to carry out General Elections. But in facts the General Elections held on September 29 for the election of the Regional People's Representative Council (DPRD) and November 29 1955 for the election of the Constituent Assembly went quite smoothly. The participation of political parties is quite high, all intrigues are also carried out by political parties to get to power. Masyumi used religious politics, the PKI spread fear among the people that the country was in foreign hands, and the PNI revoked bureaucratic structural positions from rival parties such as Masyumi. Meanwhile, each General Election committee in Medan is preparing all the necessities, such as from funds, General Election socialization, ballot boxes, and others. This general election was won by Masyumi, defeating its political opponents such as the PNI, NU, PKI and PSI. Thus the new bureaucratic system in Medan was inaugurated in 1956. However, before these bureaucrats had time to carry out their functions properly, the PRRI incident occurred which hampered government operations. Until then Sukarno issued a decree in July 1959, this also had an impact on the Medan government which was the result of the General Election not running as previously envisioned.