Unity in diversity<\/p>\n
In a country which prides itself on maintaining the principle
\nof unity in diversity, a true administrator is someone who
\nunderstands the traditions, cultures and aspirations of areas
\noutside his or her native region. This also means that an
\nadministrator who comes from one region should one day be ready
\nto serve the local people in other parts of this vast
\narchipelago.<\/p>\n
About four decades ago this wisdom seemed to have gained a
\nfoothold in the hearts and minds of the people. But lately -- as
\nthe Republic prepares to celebrate its 49th anniversary next week
\n-- we have heard voices demanding that a "son of the soil", or
\nputra daerah, be named provincial governor.<\/p>\n
This sounds like a lamentable retreat from our aspirations of
\nnational unity and cohesion because such exigencies seemed to
\nhave disappeared as far back as the early 1950s. Still, the
\ndemand seems reasonable enough. Perhaps some provinces have had
\nuncomfortable experiences with governors who hailed from other
\nareas and lacked hands-on knowledge of their new areas of
\njurisdiction.<\/p>\n
This sentiment is of course nowhere to be found in the
\nmilitary sphere because of its command system. There, in terms of
\na commander's area of origin, leadership from the national level
\nright on down has been diversified since the birth of the
\nRepublic in August 1945.<\/p>\n
These provincial sentiments are no longer relevant at the
\npresent stage of our national development. It is in this context
\nthat we understand President Soeharto's message to the new
\ngraduates of the Public Administration School in the West Java
\ndistrict of Jatinagor over the weekend. He called on the newly
\ninducted officials to be ready to serve in different parts of the
\ncountry. Wherever the officials get assigned, they will still be
\nin their own country and are expected to serve to the best of
\ntheir abilities.<\/p>\n
One thing that should be remembered, though, is that a
\nprovincial governor is -- according to law -- not only a public
\nadministrator representing the central government in that
\nparticular area, but also a local leader who is elected by his
\nconstituency. The central government thus has the right to reject
\na governor elected by the local legislative council although
\nlately it has usually upheld the choice.<\/p>\n
Many experts have voiced the opinion that this dualism places
\ngovernors in an awkward position. To solve this dilemma, it has
\nbeen said, the law on regional administration should be revamped.
\nBut the government has so far remained adamant on the issue. The
\nreason could be that yielding all authority to local legislative
\ncouncils would mean introducing a full autonomy system of
\nadministration, while in reality most of our provinces could only<\/p>\n
manage administrative autonomy since they are far from self-
\nsufficient financially.<\/p>\n
In any case, the idea of widening the perspective of an
\nofficial's task is certainly in line with modern thinking in a
\ncountry with such a diversity of cultures and traditions. The
\ntiming of the idea is also proper now that officials in the
\nMinistry of Home Affairs are much better educated. Most high-
\nranking officials have undergone administrative training at all
\nlevels. We are convinced that they possess the capacity to handle
\na variety of jobs in different provinces.<\/p>\n
And to underscore the viability of the President's view that
\nan official should be able to serve in any area of this country,
\neven one outside that of his or her birth, governorships in Java,
\ntoo, could be placed in the hands of capable administrators from
\nother islands in Indonesia. True, this has never happened, but it
\nwould surely reflect a great step forward in our thinking as
\ncitizens of the unitarian Indonesian Republic.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/unity-in-diversity-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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