Sukarno (; born Koesno Sosrodihardjo, Javanese: [ksn]; 6 June 1901 21 June 1970) was an Indonesian statesman, orator, revolutionary, and nationalist who was the first president of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967.

Sukarno was the leader of the Indonesian struggle for independence from the Dutch colonialists. He was a prominent leader of Indonesia's nationalist movement during the colonial period and spent over a decade under Dutch detention until released by the invading Japanese forces in World War II. Sukarno and his fellow nationalists collaborated to garner support for the Japanese war effort from the population, in exchange for Japanese aid in spreading nationalist ideas. Upon Japanese surrender, Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta declared Indonesian independence on 17 August 1945, and Sukarno was appointed president. He led the Indonesian resistance to Dutch re-colonisation efforts via diplomatic and military means until the Dutch recognition of Indonesian independence in 1949. Author Pramoedya Ananta Toer once wrote, "Sukarno was the only Asian leader of the modern era able to unify people of such differing ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds without shedding a drop of blood."After a chaotic period of parliamentary democracy, Sukarno established an autocratic system called "Guided Democracy" in 1959 that successfully ended the instability and rebellions which were threatening the survival of the diverse and fractious country. The early 1960s saw Sukarno veering Indonesia to the left by providing support and protection to the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI) to the irritation of the military and Islamists. He also embarked on a series of aggressive foreign policies under the rubric of anti-imperialism, with aid from the Soviet Union and China. After the events surrounding the 30 September Movement of 1965, the military general Suharto largely took control of the country and destroyed the PKI with executions of its members and sympathisers in several massacres, with support from the CIA and British intelligence services, resulting in an estimated 500,000 to over 1,000,000 deaths. In 1967, Suharto assumed the presidency, replacing Sukarno, who remained under house arrest until his death in 1970.

The People's Consultative Assembly of the Republic of Indonesia (Indonesian: Majelis Permusyawaratan Rakyat Republik Indonesia, MPR-RI) is the legislative branch in Indonesia's political system. It is composed of the members of the People's Representative Council (DPR) and the Regional Representative Council (DPD). Before 2004, and the amendments to the 1945 Constitution, the MPR was the highest governing body in Indonesia.

In accordance with Law No. 16/1960, the assembly was formed after the general election in 1971. It was decided at that time that the membership of the Assembly would be twice that of the House.

The 920 membership of MPR continued for the terms of 1977–1982 and 1982–1987. For the terms 1987–1992, 1992–1997, and 1997–1999 the MPR's membership became 1000. One hundred members were appointed representing delegations from groups as addition to the faction delegates of Karya Pembangunan (FKP), Partai Demokrasi Indonesia (FPDI), Persatuan Pembangunan (FPP), and military (Fraksi ABRI, later renamed Fraksi TNI/POLRI). For the term of 1999–2004 the membership of MPR was 700 (462 civilians and 38 from military and police which formed the DPR, 135 from each of the 27 provinces which formed the Regional Delegations Faction (Fraksi Utusan Daerah), and 65 to form the Groups Delegations Faction (Fraksi Utusan Golongan)). It was reduced to 688 in 2004 due to the removal of active military and police officers and the dissolution of the GDF, as well as the reassignment of Regional Delegations Faction to the newly formed DPD and restructuring the senatorial seats at 128 from each of the 32 provinces. Due to addition of West Papua since the 2009 election, the number of DPD senators became 132. For the 2014–2019 term there are 560 DPR members and 132 senators, resulting in 692 members of the MPR.