Provisional House of Representatives

The Provisional House of Representatives (Indonesian: Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Sementara, DPRS) was the first Indonesian legislature under the Provisional Constitution of 1950. It was formed after the transition of Indonesia to a unitary state on 17 August 1950. The DPRS initially consisted of 236 members, with 213 remaining before it was dissolved in 1956.

On 14 August 1950, three days before the dissolution of the United States of Indonesia, the House of Representatives and the Senate of the United States of Indonesia approved the draft of the Provisional Constitution of 1950. Accordingly, on 15 August 1950, the DPRS and the senate held a joint meeting in which Sukarno read the Charter of the Establishment of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia. The charter officially abolished the United States of Indonesia and formed the Republic of Indonesia effective 17 August 1950. Thus, the charter officially dissolved the federal legislative and the senate, and a unicameral legislative for Indonesia was formed.

The second article of the Constitution of the United States of Indonesia, which came into force on 27 December 1949, stated that the "sovereignty of the Republic of Indonesia is vested in the people and is exercised by the government together with the House of Representatives".

Based on this constitution, the speaker of the DPRS, Sartono, held the first session of the House of Representatives at the former Sociëteit Concordia building in Jakarta. After the building was renovated, the building was renamed the Parliament Building. However, the building was not yet ready for use after the opening ceremony. Thus, the meetings of the House of Representatives were held at the upper level of the Hotel des Indes.

Article 62 of the constitution stated that the speaker of the House of Representatives should be elected from and by its members. The speaker should be assisted by several deputy speakers and elected by the same procedure as the speaker. These elections required the confirmation by the President. The constitution also stated that before such confirmation by the president, the oldest member would temporarily preside over the meeting.

Under this rule, Rajiman Wediodiningrat, the oldest member of the DPRS at 71 years of age, was appointed to preside over the parliament's first session, which was to elect the speaker and deputy speaker.

On 19 August 1950, the session to elect the speaker and deputy speaker concluded with Sartono as the speaker and Albert Mangaratua Tambunan, Arudji Kartawinata, and Tadjuddin Noor as the deputy speakers. The president confirmed the results of the election on 21 August 1950.

According to article 45 of the constitution, the president and the vice-president were elected under rules to be laid down by law. Still, for the first time, the president appointed the vice-president upon the recommendation submitted by the House of Representatives. Based on this, the DPRS held an election for the prospective vice-president to be submitted for recommendation on 14 October 1950. Mohammad Hatta won this election and was recommended by the house to be the vice-president of Indonesia.