Bill on Yogyakarta special status feared to breach democracy
Bill on Yogyakarta special status feared to breach democracy
Asip A. Hasani, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta
With its long-standing reputation as the town of scholars,
Yogyakarta appears to have cold-shouldered democracy, which the
world recognizes as the best principle of governing, when it
comes to the political status of monarchic rulers.
The matter came to the fore after a team of experts made
public a bill on Yogyakarta's status as a special province
recently.
The most controversial issue is that the bill confirms the
privilege of the Yogyakarta sultan and the ruler of the Paku
Alaman principality to hold the top and second executive posts
respectively through direct appointment by the President, a
practice that has been maintained since the country's
independence in 1945.
This would effectively close the door to elections for the
gubernatorial and deputy gubernatorial posts, which would be an
antidemocratic selection of leaders.
But surprisingly, there have been no rallies against the bill
since it was printed in two local dailies two weeks ago as part
of an effort to raise public awareness on the draft.
Neither has the bill raised the public's curiosity on a Rp 6.5
billion fund provided by the provincial administration to finance
the drafting of the bill and its campaign among House of
Representatives legislators, who are expected to begin
deliberation when they resume their sitting in mid-August.
Only a few observers have openly branded the draft as
undemocratic. Local councillors, meanwhile, have refrained from
opposing the bill out of fear of a possible political backlash
from their constituents.
"I'm convinced that over three-quarters of the Yogyakarta
population do not mind granting monarchic rulers the exclusive
right to take the gubernatorial and deputy gubernatorial posts,"
historian P.J. Soewarno of Sanata Dharma University, a member of
the team who drafted the bill, told The Jakarta Post.
A poll conducted last year said that 50 percent of those
living in the city, who are mostly migrants, opposed the ruling,
but over 80 percent of those in rural areas were in favor of it.
Soewarno believes that the trend has not changed.
It was founding president Sukarno who awarded Yogyakarta the
special province status, following a joint statement issued in
September 1945 by the then Yogyakarta Sultan Hamengku Buwono IX
and Paku Alam VIII, who declared the unification of the two
sovereign kingdoms under the newly born state of Indonesia. As a
consequence, Sukarno stipulated that the province's governor and
deputy governor belong to the two royal families.
The posts are now held by Hamengku Buwono X and Paku Alam IX
respectively.
Aceh is the other province that has been awarded special
status. The Law on special autonomy granted to Aceh went into
effect on Jan. 1, 2001.
The provincial administration picked a team whose members are
mostly senior lecturers at Gadjah Mada University's (UGM) school
of social and political sciences led by noted political observer
Prof. Afan Gaffar.
Comprising 10 chapters and 28 articles, the bill authorizes a
direct election of heads of regencies and the mayoralty.
It also stipulates that the degree of autonomy in the economy
and politics is concentrated at the provincial level, breaking
the regional autonomy and fiscal balance laws, which empower
regencies and mayoralties.
In line with its special status, the draft gives the
Yogyakarta provincial government the autonomy in administering
agrarian affairs, tourism, education and culture. In an effort to
generate revenue, the draft stipulates that the province of
Yogyakarta take 80 percent of income and value-added taxes, and
sales tax, which includes that of luxury items.
The debate on whether traditional rulers are automatically
assigned to the top and second top posts in the province surfaced
in 1999 ahead of the election of Hamengku Buwono X as the second
governor.
At that time the provincial chapter of the United Development
Party nominated Sofyan Dharmawan for the gubernatorial post. But
political tension resulting from the party's move forced the
provincial legislature to unanimously elect Hamengku Buwono X.
Thousands of people, mostly from the rural areas of
Yogyakarta, flocked to the provincial legislature for what they
called the People's General Assembly to protest against the
council's reluctance to name Hamengku Buwono X the Yogyakarta
second governor.
Afan played down the undemocratic spirit of the draft, saying
that people should not consider the draft as final. He said
people were allowed to convey their objections or criticism to
the draft and they would be taken into account during the bill's
deliberation at the House.
"The draft is the first initiative toward Yogyakarta's dream
of having a ruling on its status as a special province," he said.
Another political observer, Pratikno from UGM, suggested that
the gubernatorial and deputy gubernatorial posts monopolized by
the two aristocracies in Yogyakarta be changed to a symbolic
status. Therefore, the governor and deputy governor do not deal
with a day-to-day policy-making process, he said.
"The people who will be mandated to carry out day-to-day
administrative jobs must be selected through a direct election,"
he said.
Pratikno said that separating the two functions was a must
otherwise Yogyakarta residents might one day protest or denounce
their sultan for his mismanagement.
"I think giving them the posts is not the correct way to honor
the two respected kings. Just let them occupy symbolic posts," he
said.