Cablegram K320 BATAVIA, 20 June 1949, 9.25 a.m.
IMMEDIATE CONFIDENTIAL
Draft of conditions for the round-table conference.
1. The Aim of the Round-Table Conference.
The aim of the Round-Table Conference is to bring about a just and lasting settlement of the Indonesian dispute, as soon as possible, by reaching an agreement with the participants concerning ways and means to accelerate the unconditional transfer of real and complete sovereignty to the United States of Indonesia, in accordance with the ‘Renville’ principles. [1]
The participants in the Round-Table Conference undertake to strive for the convening of the Conference by 1st August, 1949, and for the completion of the Conference within two months thereafter. The participants undertake to ratify agreements with results from the Conference within six weeks after its termination. Consequently, sovereignty should be transferred to the United States of Indonesia before the end of 1949.
2. Participants.
The participants of the Round-Table Conference will be:-
(1) Representatives of the Government of the Netherlands.
(2) Representatives of the Government of the Republic of Indonesia; [1. and 2.] [2] parties in the Indonesian dispute before the Security Council.
The B.F.O. (Federal Consultative Assembly) representing areas in Indonesia other than the Republic as far as they are members of this organisation.
3. The United Nations Commission for Indonesia.
The United Nations Commission for Indonesia will participate in the Round-Table Conference in accordance with its terms of reference as they have been established by the Security Council.
The United Nations Commission for Indonesia will be responsible for providing the Security Council with reports of the Conference.
4. Procedure of the Round-Table Conference.
(1) The Conference itself will decide upon its rules of procedure in addition to the points established in this present document.
(2) Formal and informal meetings shall be held.
(3) Formal meetings shall be held with the United Nations Commission for Indonesia.
(4) Informal meetings shall be held with or without the United Nations Commission for Indonesia as circumstances may require.
(5) Resolutions shall be passed at formal meetings.
(6) The Round-Table Conference shall give the representatives of the minorities (European, Chinese and Arabic) the opportunity to report their views to the Conference in all matters which are deemed to concern their interests.
(7) Application for representation of other significant interests who wish to express their views may be considered by the Conference.
5. Results of Conference.
The results of the Conference shall be laid down in documents and agreements binding upon the parties thereto. These documents and agreements shall be subject to ratification and shall include, inter alia, a charter of transfer of sovereignty, and the statute of the Netherlands/Indonesian Union, establishing fundamental provisions of future cooperation.
6. Ratification of the Agreements reached at B.F.O.
The documents and agreements referred to in sub-paragraph (5) shall be submitted immediately afterwards to the Netherlands States-General, to the provisional representative of the body of the Republic of Indonesia and, in a way to be decided upon in due time, to the representative bodies of the B.F.O. areas.
7. Items of the Agenda (a) The Provisional Constitution of the United States of Indonesia.
Sovereignty will be transferred to the Provisional National Federal Government of the United States of Indonesia which shall function on the basis of a provisional constitution.
(1) The Provisional Constitution shall include provision with regard to the structure and powers of the Federal Government.
(2) It shall stipulate that the existing legislation, insofar as it is not inconsistent with the provisions of the Provisional Constitution, or with agreement reached by the Round-Table Conference, shall remain in force until replaced by legislation enacted by competent organs according to rules to be worked out in the Provisional Constitution.
(3) All powers of the Netherlands Supreme Legislative Body of the Crown and of the Governor-General, including those which the Governor-General had in consultation with the ‘Volks Raad’, or the ‘Raad Van Nederlands Indie’, shall be vested in the Provisional Federal Government. The supreme authority with regard to foreign relations and the Federal Armed forces shall exclusively be vested in the Provisional Federal Government.
(4) The Provisional Constitution shall generally contain any provision inconsistent with the Charter of the Sovereign, the Statute of the Netherlands-Indonesian Union or other documents relating to future cooperation.
(5) The Provisional Constitution shall include the provision to guarantee effective realization of the rights of self- determination of the people of Indonesia and the holding of free and secret elections for the Constituent Assembly.
(b) The Charter of the Transfer of Sovereignty.
The Charter shall include the following provisions:-
(1) The transfer of Sovereignty shall be effective, complete and unconditional;
(2) A Union shall be established by the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the United States of Indonesia on the basis of voluntary and equal partnership with equal rights;
(3) An agreement with regard to the transfer of the rights, powers and obligations of Indonesia (The Netherlands Indies) to the United States of Indonesia.
(c) The Fundamental Provision of the Statute of the Netherlands/Indonesian Union.
In the Union, neither of the two parties, namely the Netherlands and the United States of Indonesia, shall be expected to transfer or concede any more rights to the Union than the other. Nor will this transfer include any rights other than those which either partner shall voluntarily decide to concede in the conviction of serving thereby as best he can the common interests as well as his own.
(d) Observation of the Implementation of the Agreement.
The United Nations Commission for Indonesia, or another United Nations Agency, shall observe in Indonesia the implementation of the agreement reached at the Round-Table Conference.
(e) Other Items.
Other items to be discussed at the Round-Table Conference shall include: Foreign Relations, the rights of self-determination of the people, contracts with self-governing regions, nationality and citizenship, the financial and economic relations and cultural relations, the military agreements and the withdrawal of the Netherlands forces, the exchange of High Commissioners, the status of public servants functioning at the time of the transfer of sovereignty.
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1 Document 22, 23 and 24 in Volume XIII.
2 Text in square brackets inserted from a copy on file AA :
A4968/2, 25/9/3, ii.
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[AA : A1838, 854/10/4/3, v]