use of the Volksraad for the Dutch was a means for them to learn the opinions of Indonesians, while Indonesian nationalist members could inform the public about their aspirations. That same year, Mohammad Husni Thamrin was appointed a member. He established a 'National Faction' with a declared aim of full independence for Indonesia. Meanwhile, Indonesian nationalist Sukarno established the Indonesian National Party (PNI) and adopted a strategy of non-cooperation with the colonial authorities. Meanwhile, National Faction members had become increasingly concerned about the repressive actions taken against Sukarno and the PNI leadership, which included monitoring and raids on their homes by the colonial police. Thamrin called these acts a "provocation". The administration protested about the use of this term and asked Thamrin to retract it. After arrests of PNI leadership in 1929, the pro-independence members toughened their stance, culminating in the Soetardjo Petition, submitted by progressive members led by Soetardjo Kartohadikusumo on 15 July 1936. It called for autonomy for Indonesia as part of a Dutch commonwealth within ten years. Following a debate, the Volksraad accepted the petition by 26 votes to 20, with 15 abstentions. Among those voting against were six Indonesians, and the petition was only approved after Soetardjo's removal of the ten-year deadline persuaded the Dutch five-member Political Economic League faction to support it. On 16 November 1938, the Dutch government officially rejected the petition, claiming its contents were unclear and that its demands were at odds with the existing system of government. Indonesians then began to mock the Volksraad by deriding it using the Indonesian expression "Volk Sekarat", meaning "The People are at Death's Door". This was a reference to the dire economic circumstances Indonesians were enduring as a result of the economic depression. On 21 May 1939, eight nationalist organizations, including parties represented in the Volksraad came together to form the Indonesian Political Federation. In September 1940, GAPI asked the Dutch government, then in exile in London as a result of the Germans invaded the Netherlands, for a Dutch-Indonesian union and a fully-elected Volksraad. As a result of demands both from within and outside the Volksraad, on 14 September 1940, the Dutch established a seven-man Commission to Study Changes to Administration headed by Council of the Indies (Dutch) member F.H. Visman to hold discussions with and listen to the demands of Indonesian nationalists. As well as Visaman, the members were Judicial Director K.L.J Endgoven, Volksraad