Council likely to pass bill in favor of royal families

Council likely to pass bill in favor of royal families

Sri Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

The Yogyakarta provincial legislative council was almost to
finish the deliberation of a bill giving the top posts in the
provincial administration to the two royal families, the
sultanate and the Pakualaman principality.

Immawan Wahyudi, secretary of the legislature's special
committee currently reading the bill, told The Jakarta Post here
on Wednesday that all factions in the commission had agreed the
governor and deputy governor posts would be given to the royal
families through a somewhat democratic gubernatorial election,
because, according to the law, the province had a special status.

"We are of the same opinion that Yogyakarta is special because
according to Indonesian history, Yogyakarta is a kingdom ruled by
a sultan and all administrative affairs were handled by the
Pakualaman principality," he said.

The agreement was part of three alternatives proposed in the
draft law prepared by political experts from Gajah Mada
University. The two others were that the sultan and head of the
principality be appointed as symbolic leaders and that the two
positions were open to the public.

According to Law No 22/1948 and Law No 3/1950 on Yogyakarta's
special status, the article stipulates that the sultan of the
Yogyakarta Palace and the ruler of the Pakualaman principality
have the privilege of holding the province's governor and vice
governor posts respectively.

Bambang Cipto, a political expert from Yogyakarta's
Muhammadiyah University, said the province's top posts should be
open for all.

He suggested the Yogyakarta palace be considered as a
political enclave that had a separate authority from the
province's top executive post holder. In this case, the sultan's
position in relation to the central government was right under
the president.

"That way will enable us to maintain (the existence of) the
palace for a good while at the same time we can also have a more
democratic gubernatorial and vice gubernatorial election," he
said.

Immawan said the bill's deliberation would be completed this
week before it was submitted to the House of Representatives for
endorsement.

The bill was submitted by governor Hamengku Buwono X last
September to the provincial legislature to be deliberated but it
has to be enacted by the House of Representatives because the
legislative council has no authority to make laws.

Besides the political positions in the provincial
administration, the bill also regulates that the principality and
sultanates be legalized and its maintenance costs be covered by
the state.

Besides the sultanate, Yogyakarta is also known for its
specialties in the fields of education and tourism.

"Yogyakarta's specialty lies in its unique history. It was
once Indonesia's capital in the 1950s, it has the oldest
university in Indonesia (Gajah Mada University) and it is home to
millions of Indonesian citizens from various ethnic and cultural
backgrounds," Immawan said.