Autonomy has revived feudalism in Yogyakarta<\/p>\n
Sri Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta<\/p>\n
The implementation of Law No. 22\/1999 on regional administrations
\nhas brought many changes, particularly in Yogyakarta, including
\nsome degree of transparency in both the provincial and district
\nadministrations as well as in the local legislative council.<\/p>\n
The changes are, to a great extent, due to people's increased
\nparticipation and vigilance in monitoring how local government
\nofficials and legislative council members are carrying out their
\nduties.<\/p>\n
The implementation of the law, also called the regional
\nautonomy law, however, has also sparked quite a bit of debate on
\nexactly which entity should make decisions -- the provincial
\ngovernment level or regental administrations? Since the law
\nclearly stipulates that the autonomy rests on the regental
\nadministrations, the special autonomy has created certain
\nproblems for small provinces like Yogyakarta.<\/p>\n
"In some cases, it creates conflicts and tension over the
\nauthority of the provincial government and regental
\nadministrations respectively," says regional autonomy expert Ari
\nDwipayana of Gadjah Mada University.<\/p>\n
According to Ari, a lack of a clear distribution of authority
\nbetween the district, provincial and central governments further
\nworsens the condition.<\/p>\n
For Yogyakarta, the emergence of such conflicts can be seen,
\nespecially in the management of certain assets and natural
\nresources like the Kaliurang holiday resort in Sleman regency or
\na production forest in Gunungkidul regency. Regental
\nadministrations and the provincial government have been at
\nloggerheads over precisely which administration is in charge of
\nthose assets -- and of course who gets the profits.<\/p>\n
Similar tensions also occur when regency administrations and
\nthe provincial administration pass on the responsibility of
\nmanaging the so-called social houses -- which make no profit --
\nand then their is the uncertain fate of some 3,000 civil servants
\nwho previously were taken care of by either the central or
\nprovincial government offices but now have become employees of
\nthe regency.<\/p>\n
"It is in some ways fortunate that we have a cultural entity
\nthat has the capability of preventing such tension from coming
\nout into the open," Ari explains, referring to the position of
\nthe provincial government and Yogyakarta Palace in which the
\nSultan is also the governor.<\/p>\n
The Sultan still practices the custom of awarding a
\ntraditional spear to each regent and mayor in his jurisdiction as
\na symbol of authority. To some extent, in this particular case,
\nthe governor\/sultan helps reduce tension.<\/p>\n
"Still, it doesn't mean that conflicts of authority do not
\nexist," Ari says, emphasizing the need for the central government
\nto provide a clear distribution of authority between the
\nprovincial and regental governments.<\/p>\n
There are of course other problems in implementing the law on
\nregional autonomy including possible conflicts between local
\ngovernment officials and councillors both at the provincial and
\nregental levels.<\/p>\n
The most obvious of all these is regarding the unclear
\nposition of Yogyakarta's Special Status in the context of
\nregional autonomy.<\/p>\n
There are at least three things that should be taken into
\nconsideration when talking about the province's special status
\nand they are the district-based autonomy, the relationship
\nbetween the Palace as a traditional entity vis a vis the
\nprovincial government and legislative councils, and the land
\nregulation especially regarding the so-called Sultan's Ground.<\/p>\n
With regards to autonomy, Yogyakarta provincial councillors
\nare mostly in favor of placing the autonomy on the provincial
\nlevel regardless of the fact that the law on regional autonomy
\nstipulates a regency-based autonomy.<\/p>\n
They argue that the fact that the province is relatively
\nsmall, concentrating the power at the regency level has the
\npotential of creating unhealthy competition among regental
\ngovernments. This is due to the fact that each regency has a
\ndifferent starting point of development. Sleman regency and
\nYogyakarta municipality are generally considered as more
\ndeveloped than the other three regencies of Kulonprogo, Bantul,
\nand Gunungkidul.<\/p>\n
"We believe that by concentrating the autonomy at the
\nprovincial level, the wealth can be more evenly distributed among
\nthe four regencies and municipality," councillor Imam Samroni of
\nthe provincial legislature says.<\/p>\n
In terms of the ideal relationship between the Palace and
\nmodern political entities, Ari calls for the separation of the
\nPalace from the province's day-to-day politics to prevent a
\npossible power struggle between traditional politics and modern
\npolitics, which, according to him, are manipulative and tend to
\ncorrupt.<\/p>\n
The special status, according to Ari, should not be defined
\nbased on history but on what the people want for the future. The
\nessence of the special status, according to Ari, is not on the
\nfact that the governor is of the royal lineage of the Palace, but
\nrather on how the Palace contributes to modern politics.<\/p>\n
Article 122 of Law No. 22\/1999 stipulates that the Yogyakarta
\ngovernor and vice-governor are elected by taking into account the
\nlineage of the Yogyakarta Palace and the Pakualaman Principality.
\nThe stipulation, however, created tension in the last
\ngubernatorial election that ended up with the governor being
\nappointed, instead of elected by the people.<\/p>\n
For the sake of democracy, such a practice should not be
\nallowed to occur. Many would probably agree to consider the
\npresent situation as a transitional phase. However, in the near
\nfuture a democratic election should be conducted while
\naccommodating the Palace's interest in symbolic forms to create a
\nmeeting point between democratic and traditional values.<\/p>\n
"The Palace can play a very important role in Yogyakarta's
\npolitics, not in terms of day-to-day governance but in strategic
\nand influential functions. It's like the position of the
\nThai King or British Queen," Ari says.<\/p>\n
Regarding the status of the Sultan Ground, Ari suggests that
\nthe Palace follow the example of the late Hamengkubuwono IX, who
\nagreed to abide by the agrarian law. The initiative for a change,
\nhe says, is required not just from the people but also from the
\nPalace as well.<\/p>\n
"People should be made aware of possible concentration of
\npower between the sultan, the governor, and the landlords. That's
\nwhy a distribution of power between the sultan on one hand and
\nthe governor on the other has to be clearly defined, and so
\nshould the regulation on the Sultan Ground," he says.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, such power distribution has not been
\naccommodated in the existing law on regional autonomy as well as
\nin its revised draft prepared by the Ministry of Home Affairs to
\nbe deliberated by the House.<\/p>\n
"The so-called keraton (palace) revival is emerging. They
\nestablish the alliance of Nusantara (Indonesia) palaces and begin
\nto ask about the land formerly belonging to them. So, basically,
\nit's a national problem that the central government has to take
\ninto consideration. The decentralization as a consequence of the
\nimplementation of law on regional autonomy has made it possible
\nfor the traditional political entities to be revived. In the name
\nof identity or indigenous nostalgia, they reclaim the local
\npolitical structure," he says.<\/p>\n
According to Ari, the room for local cultural identity,
\ninitially created by the law on regional autonomy to negate
\ncentralization had been reclaimed by political entities of the
\npast, making it possible for the revival of a new feudalism.<\/p>\n
"Decentralization is, therefore, a return to feudalism instead
\nof democracy," Ari says.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/autonomy-has-revived-feudalism-in-yogyakarta-1447893297",
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