View source for Exorbitant Powers of the Governor-General

{{Politics of Hindia Belanda}}
The '''Exorbitant Powers of the Governor-General''' are a set of prerogatives exercisable at the pleasure of the [[Governor-General of Hindia Belanda|Governor-General]] of [[Hindia Belanda]]. These prerogatives are not part of the royal prerogatives that the Governor-General exercises in the name of the [[Monarchy of Hindia Belanda|Sovereign]], but rather are powers deriving from the period of [[Noordenstaater Trading Company]] rule, prior to the country becoming a colony of [[Noordenstaat]] and its eventual independence in 1929. After [[Independence of Hindia Belanda|Hindia Belandan independence]], these powers remain technically exercisable because of the continuing applicability of certain [[Company-rule law]], including that which confers these powers to the Governor-General. In reality, however, they are no longer exercised by convention.

== History ==

== Powers and scope ==
The Exorbitant Powers include the right for the Governor-General to exile a person to a location within Hindia Belanda or elsewhere, to prevent a "Christian from receiving the means of Grace in the true and settled [[Church of Hindia Belanda#Company rule (1580 to 1800)|Protestant Church in the Indies]]," to order "the immediate confinement of unruly and disorderly persons posing threats to the peace, security and religion of the Colony" and to "detain persons sympathetic to the [[Empire of Exponent|Exponents]]". Technically, only two of the exorbitant powers, the right to exile a person and to confine persons of "unruly and disorderly" conduct, are exercisable today, as the Protestant Church in the Indies ceased to be a state church at Hindia Belandan independence. The power for the Governor-General to detain persons "sympathetic to the Exponents" ceased to be operable in 1879, following the relaxation of Anti-Exponential laws in the Colony.

In 2017, then-Prime Minister [[Marcus Overstraten]] controversially suggested that  Governor-General [[Maryam Rahmadisoerja]] use her Exorbitant Powers to confine residents of [[Southeastern Malaya]] who are suspected of being "terrorist sympathisers", a suggestion that the Governor-General rejected. The episode brought the political attention of members of Parliament to the existence of the Exorbitant Powers. [[Antje Moeljani]], the then Leader of the Opposition, made it her campaign promise in 2018 to subsume the Exorbitant Powers and render them dependent on the [[Council of State (Hindia Belanda)|Council of State]] to prevent their arbitrary use by a sitting Governor-General.

== See also ==
* [[Governor-General of Hindia Belanda]]
* [[Politics of Hindia Belanda]]

[[Category:Astyria]] [[Category:Hindia Belanda]] [[Category:Politics of Hindia Belanda]]