History of Riau
Indonesian independence which was proclaimed on August 17 1945 had an extraordinary impact and blessing on the development of this country. There were no exceptions for several provinces that were formed at that time. By being freed from the shackles of colonialism, the Indonesian people began to organize their state system.
A glimpse of history shows that the independence achieved by the Indonesian people was not something that was obtained easily, but rather with blood, sweat and tears. That’s what happened to the people of Riau at that time. The struggle of the people of Riau to gain independence was a very heroic period that was fought earlier than the struggle for independence of the Republic of Indonesia. Unfortunately, Riau’s struggle at that time did not fully take diplomatic steps and lacked weapons in facing the Dutch.
The resistance against the Dutch reached its climax on February 10 1911. At that time, when the Resident of Riau, GP de Bruin Kops read the letter of dismissal of Sultan Abdurrachman Muazamsyah and Tengku Besar or Tengku Umar at the Rusyidiah Club Building, causing the sultan and the top officials of the Kingdom of Riau to flee to Johor and Singapore.
The period leading up to independence was the end of the Dutch colonial period in Riau which had continued to be tense since the London treaty was signed on August 2 1824. Since then the Malay Kingdom of Riau has continued to weaken. On the other hand, Dutch power, which was domiciled in Tanjungpinang at that time, became increasingly sharp and widespread.
During the Dutch colonial era, Riau was divided into three regions in Sumatra. The first to split was Residentie Riouw en Onderhoorigheden which included the Indragiri and Tanjungpinang divisions. The second is Residentie Oustkust van Sumatra with the Bengkalis division, and the third is Residentie Westkust van Sumatra with the Limapuluh Kota division.
History continued to roll on, and in the end Riau became part of Central Sumatra Province with the combined regions of West Sumatra, Jambi and Riau Residency. This condition apparently did not bring any significant benefits to Riau’s development, so the Riau people’s desire to live in a separate region arose.
This movement was spearheaded by several Riau community leaders. They want a separate autonomous region. This was then strengthened by the Riau Youth Congress on October 17 1954 in Pekanbaru.
So heroically the youth and people of Riau fought. Furthermore, after the desire to stand alone as an autonomous region called Riau Province is fulfilled, the next step is to develop an institutionalized government structure in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.
One of them is ideological and political development. The development of these two sectors in Riau Province is in line with central government policy. Ideologically, development is directed towards the realization of social order and the people in general based on the consistent and consistent implementation of Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution. To carry out these basic tasks, several efforts were made, the most important of which was holding consolidation in politics by filling the legislative body in the form of the Gotong Royong Regional People’s Legislative Council, hereinafter abbreviated as DPRD-GR, with a composition of 19 seats and Golongan Karya (Golkar) political parties. 26 seats.
This composition is based on Minister of Home Affairs Decree No. Regional Government 4/9/26-27 dated 13 November 1967 and 10 February 1970 No. Local Government 5/2/24-31. Based on DPRD-GR Decree No. 01/KPTS/DPRD/1968 stipulated by the leadership of DPRD-GR Riau as follows:
Chairman: M Yatim D, BA (Islamic Scholar)
Deputy Chairman: M Syafei Abdullah (PSII)
Deputy Chair : Drs. Hudaya (SOKSI)
Deputy Chair : Drs. Maridin Arbis (NU)
Furthermore, based on Minister of Home Affairs Regulation no. 12/1969 dated 4 December 1969, the composition of the DPRD-GR changed to the Political Group with 22 seats and the Work Group with 23 seats. At that time MPRS members from Riau were appointed, namely:
1. Arifin Achmad (Governor of KDH Riau Province)
2. Raja Rusli BA
3. Arifin DS
4. Mansur Abdul Jabbar, and
5. Nahar Effendy, BA