Doubts mar regional autonomy project
Doubts mar regional autonomy project
The government will implement the long awaited pilot project for regional autonomy soon. Noted sociologist Kastorius Sinaga discusses the reservations and hesitation displayed by certain officials in implementing it.
JAKARTA (JP): Like the Philippines, India and Thailand, which have successfully promoted a more decentralized governmental system, Indonesia is to launch an experiment on the strengthening of regional autonomy next week.
This experiment will be carried out in 26 regencies throughout the country. But the state remains a powerful symbol and the bureaucracy is still perceived as a "political arena" because this is what actions and policies have dictated thus far.
Three fundamental reasons contribute to the doubts about the success of the project. The first is the perception of autonomy itself. The word autonomy means possessing the right to self- government. So, the emphasis on self-government is clear. However, certain Jakarta officials seem to perceive autonomy only as a process of turning over the handling of some affairs by the central government to regional authority.
The central government has tended only to hand over administrative matters, while keeping a grip on each region's potential source of income. The defect here lies in the "unevenness" of authority being transferred, between the handing over administration to the regions, and the providing of sufficient funds, quality personnel and adequate infrastructure for them to handle their new responsibilities. In a sense, Jakarta remains the one who enjoys the lunch, while the regions still serve as its cooks and dishwashers.
The second doubt is related to the guiding principle of this experiment. Law No. 5, 1974, which serves as a legal basis for autonomy, though it tangibly exists has failed to provide clear guidance to regional authorities. One can liken the vagueness of this principle to the one used to define Indonesia's press: "free" and "responsible". In reality, this guidance tends to confuse rather than clarify the goal since they do not explain where the limits of freedom really are. Regional governments may only guess as to where their responsibilities are really supposed to lie.
Based on common sense, and according to the emphasis on the people's sovereignty in our system of government, a regional head must obviously be responsible to the inhabitants of his local administrative area. This means that the Provincial Legislative Council, as the local institution representing the people, must be the place where the actions of the region's executives are assessed and put into practice.
However, common sense is not always a guarantee of what will happen. The problem remains that there is still a lack of clear boundaries in Law No. 5 in terms of authority and political function, between the regional head as the local executive and the regional council as the local legislature. Consequently, the tendency has been to see the regional government as the integration of these two elements, underlined by the phrase, in the "spirit and climate of harmony and partnership". This means that the two institutions will either exist or collapse together.
This kind of system was designed to avoid the development of dual leadership, but what has happened is that leadership functions have become concentrated only in the executive branch. Bureaucratic terminology has mirrored this tendency as well, such as in the standard job title, "Bupati Kepala Daerah Tingkat II" or Regent Regional Head Level, which is akin to a three-in-one description in that it assigns several functions to one person. The regent, for example, is both the representative of the central government and the regional head. The regent is the ultimate authority in the region and the coordinator of its development programs. The regent, therefore, is not bound by the regional legislature and the legislature does not have the authority to ask the regent to submit to its review.
If the strengthening of regional autonomy is primarily a technical exercise involving the re-assignment of some administrative matters, and does not involve any political changes in the strengthening of local authority, such as through improving the position and authority of the regional legislature, then this experiment is really only a cosmetic one, much like giving an old car a new coat of paint. The structure and power relationships within each region and between the regions and the center remained unchanged. This pilot project may have added an extra level to the structure of our regional administrations, but is has not provided any assistance in strengthening its foundations.
The third doubt refers to some fundamental problems in our bureaucratic culture. For example, overly paternalistic attitudes continue to be quite common in the ways of thinking and acting of our civil servants. Bureaucrats usually only feel confident to act if there has already been a hint to do so from above, and they rarely rely on their own sense of initiative. It is common knowledge that many officials are accustomed to and quite skilled at manipulating data and facts to emphasize successes in their reports in order to keep their superior happy.
In daily life, our bureaucracy seems omnipotent and it remains unfamiliar to the idea of public accountability which is the common foundation for bureaucracies in developed countries. The duties and functions of a bureaucracy are not seen from the vantage point of being a public trust which must be protected, but as an individual privilege which should be taken advantages of and enjoyed for as long as possible. Therefore, if we want to create autonomy as it was defined originally, meaning "possessing the rights of self-government", then all of these doubts must be eliminated. Otherwise, the autonomy which is to be developed will not be genuine or responsive, but capricious and untrustworthy.
The writer is lecturer in the Social Sciences Postgraduate Program at the University of Indonesia, Jakarta, and consultant for the Word Bank. The views expressed here are entirely his own.