Autonomy and the reform agenda

Autonomy and the reform agenda

By Hermawan Sulistyo

JAKARTA (JP): The initial "reform agenda" proposed by
concerned scholars and college students in the early stages of
the Indonesian transition in 1998 was not only intended to
include the eradication of corruption, collusion and nepotism.

The agenda was also to reform statecraft and state management,
particularly as regards center-periphery relations and other
fundamental issues, such as those related to security. But, of
course, the whole range of changes envisaged was much wider.

On the restructuring of relations between the national
government and provincial-local administrations, the role of the
Ministry of Home Affairs is particularly important.

Some political analysts have raised doubts about the
anticipated performance of the new minister in continuing the
adoption and implementation of the regional and local autonomy
scheme, basing their analyses on the track record of Minister
Hari Sabarno.

The three-star-general spent many years of his career in the
legislature, a background which has made him infamous as a
politicized military officer. He was one among a few political
architects involved in the three successions of power over the
past four years; and he managed to survive the political
struggle.

But a minister's personal background may not be as significant
in predicting the future of the autonomy scheme and its
implementation as the match between President Megawati
Soekarnoputri and the ministry's paradigm of stability, security
and national integration.

Megawati's administration prioritizes stability -- a euphemism
for a more repressive approach. Protests and demonstrations are
seen more as a disturbance than as a sign of political
participation. The paradigm may not only be seen at the national
level, but also in the approach that the administration takes on
regional-local issues. The extreme cases of separatist movements,
particularly the Free Aceh Movement (Gerakan Aceh Merdeka, or
GAM) are to be cured by harsher, firmer and stronger measures.

Under such a paradigm, an interior minister of military
background (although Hari Sabarno will be required to quit the
military) will fit into the overall policies. He has repeatedly
stated that he would let the people watch closely and judge for
themselves whether his policies are democratic. The problems of
restructuring the regional-local administrations, however, go far
beyond the mere issue of whether he will act democratically.

Separatist movements, communal conflicts, local demands over
the management and allocation of natural resources, and other
"non-national issues" are only the phenomena and results of the
more serious and longer problems of the unjust and unfair
structure of the state administration. The issues seen from the
national perspective as "provincial and local" would not come to
the fore if their scale and intensity were not threatening to the
national government.

The reform agenda concerning these issues is known as the
local autonomy scheme. The agenda was adopted in Law number 22 on
regional autonomy and Law number 25 on the fiscal balance. The
agenda was first implemented into the administration system in
January 2001. Now, after less than a year of implementation, some
provisions in the laws have already shown some flaws and
weaknesses. A striking example is the provision on the
"territorial division" of the sea, as regulated by the law.

The major discourse in the issue is dominated by scholars who
agree that the management of the sea cannot be divided under
local administrative managements. The control and management over
the sea should be placed in the hands of the national government.
Had the national government not changed, a return of the rights
over sea management from the local administrations to the central
government might not have become a serious issue in governance.

But under the more centralized paradigm of Megawati's
administration, the return will significantly contribute to the
paradigm. It will strengthen the new paradigm of establishing a
stronger national government. While some political leaders have
expressed their endorsement of the new policies, political
analysts and pro-democracy activists have expressed their concern
and worry over the possibility of backlashes in respect of these
policies.

Ryaas Rasyid, the architect of the local autonomy scheme, has
openly expressed such a concern. He said that a failure in the
implementation of the decentralization scheme may lead to the
country's real disintegration. Many political analysts would
share his view. This view should be taken as a precautionary
warning and not disruptive opposition by Minister Hari Sabarno.

The national administration should therefore move carefully to
balance the stability paradigm and the decentralization of
governance programs that hitherto have been pursued by local
administrations.

Unfortunately, Megawati's administration has only less than 37
months left to deal with the complex situation until the next
change of government in 2004.

Dr Hermawan Sulistyo is national coordinator of Conflict
Studies Network (CSN)-Indonesia and chair of Conflict and Peace
Research Network (CONCERN).