Thu, 27 Feb 2003

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.