Councillors to seek clear roles in autonomous regions<\/p>\n
Asip A. Hasani, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta<\/p>\n
Leaders of the country's provincial legislative councils are to
\nconvene a two-day congress in Yogyakarta on Friday, with the main
\ndemand being for an affirmation of their role in autonomous
\nregions.<\/p>\n
Totok Daryanto, a member of the committee organizing the local
\nlegislators' second congress, said the roles of provincial
\ngovernments as well as provincial legislative councils were not
\nclearly specified in Law No. 22\/1999 on regional autonomy.<\/p>\n
\"The law stipulates that the provincial government plays a
\ncoordinating role, but what this could be is still not clear. The
\nlaw, confusingly, also states that a provincial government is an
\nautonomous administration similar to an administration at the
\nregency level,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Totok, who is also a deputy speaker of the Yogyakarta
\nprovincial legislative council, said the law should be revised
\nso as to assign a clear role to the provincial governments in the
\nregional autonomy structure.<\/p>\n
\"It's fine if the provincial governments are to act as the
\ncentral government's tool for supervising the regencies. But this
\nshould be clearly stated in the law,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Totok argued that the ambiguous positions of provincial
\ngovernments and legislatures could cause inefficiency in regional
\ndevelopment programs as all of the regencies already had their
\nown strategic development plans.<\/p>\n
\"We could optimize our work further in providing public
\nservices as at the moment we often hesitate to do this or that
\nbecause we are afraid that what we will be doing will overlap
\nwith programs run by regency administrations,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The congress is also scheduled to elect a new chairman of the
\nlegislative councils' association to replace the incumbent, Edy
\nWaluyo, who is also the speaker of Jakarta's provincial
\nlegislature.<\/p>\n
A seminar entitled \"a critical view on the draft revision of
\nLaw No. 22\/1999\" will be held as part of the congress, with
\nYogyakarta Governor Sultan Hamengku Buwono X being the keynote
\nspeaker.<\/p>\n
The congress will be held in Yogyakarta's Hyatt Regency Hotel.
\nThe opening ceremony, however, is due to take place in a guest
\nhall of the province's keraton (palace) complex.<\/p>\n
At least 28 of a total of 30 provincial legislative council
\nspeakers have confirmed their attendance at the congress. Only
\nthose from Aceh and Irian Jaya have yet to confirm their
\npresence.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/councillors-to-seek-clear-roles-in-autonomous-regions-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}