Prawoto Mangkusasmito (4 January 1910 – 24 July 1970) was an Indonesian politician who served as the final chairman of the Masyumi political party prior to its dissolution in 1960. He also served as the Deputy Prime Minister of Indonesia during the Wilopo Cabinet between 1952 and 1953.
He originated from a santri family from Central Java and studied law in Batavia, although the Japanese occupation began before he completed his studies. Joining Masyumi after Indonesian independence, he became a prominent member of parliament and along with Wilopo of the Indonesian National Party formed the Wilopo Cabinet. Due to other Masyumi leaders' involvement in the Revolutionary Government of the Republic of Indonesia, Prawoto took over its leadership in 1959, unsuccessfully attempting to recover the party's political position prior to its dissolution in 1960. Continuing to criticize Sukarno's Guided Democracy, he was arrested in 1962. Following his release in 1966, his attempts to reenter politics did not bear fruit and he died in 1970.
Early life and education
Prawoto was born in the village of Tirto, today in Magelang Regency of Central Java, on 4 January 1910. His father, Mangkusasmito, was the local village chief and a santri. He enrolled at a Hollandsch-Inlandsche School in 1917, becoming friends with later foreign minister Mohammad Roem, before continuing his studies to a Meer Uitgebreid Lager Onderwijs in Magelang and then an Algemene Middelbare School in Yogyakarta. In Yogyakarta, he became exposed to the growing Indonesian nationalist movement and he joined the Jong Java youth organization.
After graduating from AMS, Prawoto moved to Batavia in 1935 and studied at the Batavia Law Institute (). While a student there, he also taught at a local school, and became a leading member of the Studenten Islam Studie-Club (Islamic Students' Study Club). Before completing his studies, he had joined Soekiman Wirjosandjojo's Indonesian Islamic Party. When the Japanese took over the country in 1942, due to his organizational activities, Prawoto had not completed his degree. During the Japanese occupation period, Prawoto with other Islamic politicians such as Roem and Jusuf Wibisono formed the Islamic militia "Hizbullah".
Career
Following the proclamation of Indonesian independence and the formation of political parties, Prawoto joined the Masyumi party and became a member of its leadership committee as a representative of Muhammadiyah. He became a member of the Central Indonesian National Committee and was appointed into its Working Body. After the conclusion of the Indonesian National Revolution and the dissolution of the United States of Indonesia, he became a member of the Provisional People's Representative Council.
On 1952, following the collapse of the Sukiman Cabinet, Prawoto was appointed by President Sukarno alongside the Indonesian National Party (PNI)'s Sidik Djojosukarto to form a parliament. Due to political friction between Prawoto and PNI, however, no cabinets were formed by the pair – ministerial appointments were a matter of dispute between the two parties. After the two submitted their mandates, Sukarno reappointed Prawoto as formateur, but replaced Djojosukarto with Wilopo. Wilopo was more willing to compromise with Masyumi on ministerial posts, and the pair successfully formed a government, the Wilopo Cabinet, on 3 April 1952. Within this cabinet, Prawoto served as Deputy Prime Minister. Within Masyumi, he was first elected general secretary in 1954 and then deputy chairman in 1956. He was reelected into the parliament following the 1955 legislative election. He also became a member of the Constitutional Assembly of Indonesia, serving as its deputy chairman.