East Kalimantan legislators join call for federalism

JAKARTA (JP): East Kalimantan provincial legislators went to the House of Representatives here on Wednesday to demand Indonesia become a federal state which would allow provinces more autonomy.

Khairul Fuad, deputy speaker of the East Kalimantan provincial legislative council, said after a closed-door meeting with House Speaker Akbar Tandjung here on Wednesday that he and his entourage were sent to lodge the province's demand for the implementation of federalism in Indonesia.

"We asked the House to take the concept of federalism into consideration in an attempt to maintain national unity and meet the increasing demands for referendums in Aceh and Irian," he said.

Riau recently made the same demand to secure a bigger portion of the rewards of its rich natural resources.

Fuad said the legislative council also called for the immediate enforcement of the 1999 Law on Fiscal Balance to allow regions to gain more from the exploitation of their natural resources.

"East Kalimantan demands a ratio of 75 to 25 for the exploitation of oil and gas in the province. We want the law to take effect as of 2000," he said.

The new law states that 85 percent of oil revenue and 70 percent of gas revenue goes to Jakarta.

Akbar said after the meeting that the House would not agree to push demands for federalism as it was in violation of the 1945 Constitution.

"We will discuss and deliberate the province's demand for a greater share in resources and its full right to exploit its natural resources," he said.

He contended that it is still difficult for the House to consider the idea of federalism because most people still felt emotionally and politically bound to the Constitution, which stipulates that Indonesia is a unitary republic.

"But let all the people speak about the concept. If all people support the concept, the House will have no reason not to deliberate it," he said. (rms)