Evaluating the regional autonomy policy

By Dewi Anggraeni

MELBOURNE (JP): In the early 1990s countries in Asia such as the Philippines, Thailand, Taiwan and South Korea began their regional autonomy processes, yet this trend seemed to elude Indonesia at that time. There was even a strong suspicion among the political elite that regional autonomy would lead to national disintegration. Finally, with the fall of the New Order, the subsequent government could no longer deny the push for autonomy from the grass roots.

Seven months after the introduction of the regional autonomy policy, a review of it was the focus of a recent conference held by six Australian universities on July 7-8.

Several case studies were presented: those of Irian, South Sulawesi, Bangka Belitung, West Sumatra, and Bali.

Andi Mallarangeng, Chair of the Policy Committee for Partnership of Governance Reform in Indonesia and lecturer at the Institute of Government Studies, was among those who threw some light on the teething problems in the implementation of regional autonomy.

In South Sulawesi, regionalization has seen the revival of many sentiments suppressed during the past three decades; among them regarding ethnicity. The Mandarese, a major ethnic group in the western part of South Sulawesi (one of its prominent personalities being the late Baharuddin Lopa), feel disenfranchised. South Sulawesi has 24 seats on the local council, yet none was allocated to Mandarese. Consequently, they have demanded their own province in the western part of the South Sulawesi.

Those who want Sulawesi to return to the old kingdoms such as Luhu and Bone, demand provinces oriented according to the former borders of those kingdoms.

There are also religion-based aspirations, such as that led by the son of the late Kahar Muzzakar, leader of the DI-TII Islamic- based movement, who is keen on implementing the Islamic syariah in South Sulawesi. While they have never demanded an Indonesian Islamic state, they harbor ambitions to form an East Indonesian Islamic State. The revived romantic appeal of an East Indonesian State has also driven groups of students to lobby for an independent Sulawesi. All these demands have to be managed wisely and effectively.

Andi Mallarangeng stressed that regional autonomy has brought substantial advantages to South Sulawesi. It has empowered the local heads, governors and mayors to make decisions clearly beneficial to their respective regions. It has also raised the profiles of the regions to the national level. The mayor of Makassar is the vice chair of the Association of Mayors of Indonesia.

From Bali, Nyoman Riasa of the Indonesian Australian Language Foundation said that the Balinese, while having a strong sense of regional identity, are also aware that a Republic of Bali is hardly viable.

"In 1998, after the May riot in Jakarta, the Balinese saw how vulnerable they were to situations in other areas surrounding Bali. With no supplies coming from Java, food became scarce. People were worried they would eventually ... starve."

In Bali, the greater concern is more about how to obtain a larger share of the revenue generated by Bali and in Bali.

However, the disparity of economic capability in different regions makes some local governments more prepared and others less so. Nyoman Riasa believes that Badung and Gianyar local regency administrations are the most equipped in this case, given their revenue sources to absorb the costs incurred, as well as being able to take advantage of the policy.

"Badung regency is so well-off it even subsidizes other regencies," Nyoman Riasa explained. If these arrangements could be maintained, all would be well. However recently the Badung regency government hinted that it would like to reduce these subsidies, which naturally alarmed the other regencies.

Both the regencies of Badung (with Kuta, Legian, Seminyak, Nusa Dua and Jimbaran), and Gianyar (with Ubud and Mas) draw the bulk of their revenues from the tourism industry. While tourism seems to be a solid source of revenue, it has proven to be somewhat vulnerable at times of political instability.

What is more, Nyoman Riasa said, some aspects of Balinese culture, such as Catur Guru and the caste system, which are reliant on submissiveness, are open to manipulation by those in power. In an interpersonal situation, a person of higher caste can immediately gain the upperhand vis-a-vis his or her interlocutor by adopting specific pronouns and verbs in speaking Balinese.

During pre-autonomy days, an effective leveler was the use of the much more egalitarian Indonesian language. One aspiration of the regionalists however, is to revive their unique culture. Would this imply a return to undemocratic social practices? Wasn't it the onset of democracy that opened doors to regional autonomy? There are clearly more questions than answers.

While demands in terms of regional autonomy may not necessarily affect Indonesia in the national context, in the current economic circumstances, they could prove very expensive. The policy needs an overhaul of the national legal structure and an implementation mechanism has to be instituted.

The government seems to lack the ability to look ahead and predict outcomes and problems, Andi observed.

"When the state ministry for regional autonomy was disbanded, we suggested that an authorized body be instituted to replace it. But the government instituted a directorate general instead, which has very little authority in terms of supervision and monitoring."

Citing the complexities, Arief Budiman, a professor of the University of Melbourne, said that while Indonesia may not disintegrate, it may not remain solid either "because there will always be tension and problems."

Both Arief and Robert Cribb of the University of Queensland expressed guarded optimism about regional autonomy in Indonesia, among others because autonomy laws can make local governments vulnerable to control by powerful outside or local forces, either big corporations, multinationals or army units.

"Another danger is the growth of criminality within units that are too small to police themselves properly," Cribb added.

One big problem with regional autonomy, Cribb said, is that "no one has come up with really good ideas that can revitalize the center in Indonesian politics."

Maybe Indonesia needs to go through a period of regionalism, he said, "and once the advantages of regionalism has been exhausted, perhaps it can return to a greater degree of centralization, because central authority also has its own advantages." If the decentralization is managed in a way that Indonesia doesn't fall apart, then probably that kind of cycle can be established," Cribb said.

The writer is a journalist and novelist based in Melbourne, Australia.