Empowering the regions

Empowering the regions

One of the most frequently voiced complaints about the
existing political system is that it hardly represents or
accommodates the interests and aspirations of the regions. The
widespread discontent found in the regions today has its roots in
the political structure, which is still very Jakarta-centrist.

The Regional Autonomy Law, which came into force this year,
has devolved a lot of the administrative work from the central to
the regional governments. But when it comes to real political
powers, Jakarta still calls most of the shots.

It is somewhat disheartening therefore to find that the bills
on political parties and on general elections, which have just
been submitted by the government to the House of Representatives,
seek to reaffirm Jakarta's political grip over the regions,
rather than to redress this power imbalance.

The deliberation on the two bills is a golden chance for the
nation to address once and for all the problem of power
imbalances between Jakarta and the regions. Given that the
grumbling in the regions in some cases has translated into armed
uprising, while in others into outright defiance of some of
Jakarta's policies, the government and the House might want to
use the opportunity wisely, lest it upset the regions even more.

The two pieces of legislation will determine the relationship
between Jakarta and the regions. In keeping with the spirit of
the Regional Autonomy Law, deliberations on these two bills
should be aimed at giving more political autonomy to the regions.
That spirit, unfortunately, is missing from the two bills, at
least in the current form submitted by the government.

The bill on political parties still requires that all
political parties must base their headquarters in Jakarta. It
requires that all parties must have representative offices in
half of all provinces in Indonesia, and in half of all regencies
in the provinces that they are represented. The bill on general
elections is even more rigid. Political parties intending to
contest the election must be represented in two-thirds of all
provinces, and in two-thirds of all regencies where they are
represented.

The proportional representative election system strengthens
the grip of the leaders of the political parties. Elected
representatives will be accountable to party leaders, as they are
today, instead of to voters. The bills also give party leaders
the right not only to nominate candidates for public office, but
also to withdraw them from the elected office.

Some of these stipulations admittedly are aimed at simplifying
the number of parties contesting the election (the number of
registered political parties exceeded 200 at the last count). If
the bills are approved, only a few, well-funded parties, could
really meet the stiff requirements to contest the election.

The system as proposed by the two bills, however, virtually
precludes the emergence of regional-based political parties. Such
parties, which would fight for the interests of the local people,
would not only find popular support in Aceh and Papua, but they
could also ease the brewing political tensions there.

The existing political parties, because they are so Jakarta-
centrist, have failed to give outlets through which the regions
could voice their grievances and aspirations. The system's
failure in turn has led many to resort to violence.

If Aceh and Papua were given the appropriate political
channels through which their interests and aspirations could be
fought, they would have no need to resort to armed rebellions.
This is especially true considering that their chief goals have
been for greater justice and a fairer share of the economic pie,
and not so much for independence or separate states. Allowing the
Free Aceh Movement (GAM) or the Free Papua Movement (OPM) to
become political parties and to contest the elections would be
the best compromise that Jakarta could give to the two provinces.

In deliberating the bills on political parties and general
elections, the House should therefore consider not only the need
to give the regions a greater say, but also the pressing need to
find a compromise in Aceh and Papua. Most of all, they should
strive to politically empower the regions.

In their present format, the two bills would change little the
existing power structure, where political parties, or more
specifically their leaders in Jakarta, hold most of the powers.

About the only significant change the bills seek to bring is
in the election of the Regional Representative Council (DPD), a
new body that would function like the U.S. senate. Theoretically
at least, the nomination and election of the four DPD members
from each province would not depend on political parties. We
suspect however that the major political parties will still be
campaigning to ensure that their candidates get the votes.

The two bills still have long way to go before they become
law. They can still be changed, and they should. We hope that
during the deliberation, the House will hold many public debates
to include as many people as possible, particularly people in the
region, in the process. While the bill would determine the
outcome of the 2004 elections, more importantly, it will decide
the kind of political relationship Jakarta has with the regions.