The 1945 Constitution - provided Sukarno for a more powerful presidency and like Suharto after him he used the constitution to outlaw some political parties.
Suharto's "New Order" - retained the 1945 Constitution and consolidated his powers through the People Consultative Assembly (MPR) which convenes every five years to elect the President and Vice-President and broad policy guidelines for the next five years. Because the President appoints over half of the members of the MPR and a large portion of the members are members of the government political party - GOLKAR - there was little prospect for anybody to challenge him. That is the modus operandi for political control in Indonesia under Suharto. Since 1966, he has been re-elected unopposed for the 7 times - until he lost power. But the real source of power for Suharto was not the constitutional authority - but his ability to command the loyalty of the armed forces. The military support for the President was fundamental to his long rule in Indonesia.
Under Suharto all political parties were banned except for Golkar - a government political machinery (500 seats in parliament - 100 reserved for military officers, Golkar 400). Two other non-government parties allowed were PPP (a Muslim-based party) and the PDI (a blend of older nationalist and Christian parties). In essence, Suharto cleverly diluted Islamic and other religious and nationalist forces. They were only allowed to exist in name - always cut down when they pose a threat to Golkar.
We now see the re-emergence of political parties along mainly religious lines as well as ideological lines. No one knows which parties will have a strong machinery to contest the election or whether they will be allowed by the incumbents to contest. Some of the major parties include the Nachdatul Ulama(NU), Partai Demokratic Indonesia(PDI), Partai Nasional, PPP under Hamzah.
