Experts, councillors call for more democratic, decentralized Jakarta
Experts, councillors call for more democratic, decentralized Jakarta
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Experts and councillors want the House of Representatives
to make Jakarta more democratic by introducing a regulation
requiring direct mayoral/regency elections like those held in
other regions.
Indonesian Institute of Sciences political analyst Indria
Samego said on Sunday the current political system in Jakarta
gave the governor too much power because he was authorized to
appoint officials, from subdistrict heads to regents and mayors.
"Jakarta should be treated like other regions. Power must be
decentralized to the municipal and regency levels to make the
city more democratic," Indria told The Jakarta Post.
The House is currently preparing a revision of Law No. 34/1999
on Jakarta as a special territory. According to the law, the
Jakarta governor is elected by the City Council and is entitled
to appoint mayors and regents.
The revision is aimed at bringing the law into line with Law
No. 32/2004 on regional administration, which requires direct
elections for governors, mayors and regents.
The current crop of city leaders, however, seem reluctant to
hold direct elections for mayors and regents, or to implement
autonomy at the municipal and regency levels.
Indria said there would be at least two advantages if regional
autonomy was decentralized to the regency and municipal levels.
First, public services would be improved because the fate of
mayors and regents would be decided not by the governor, but by
the people.
"Moreover, decentralization would allow for a tighter control
system because there would municipal/regency councils," he said.
Center for Electoral Reform executive Smita Notosutanto said
her organization had proposed the creation of municipal and
regency councils in Jakarta prior to the gubernatorial election
in 2002.
The chairman of City Council Commission A for legal and
administrative affairs, Achmad Suaidy, said the Council attempted
to include articles on the decentralization of Jakarta in a draft
revision of Law No. 34/1999, but was opposed by the
administration.
"I think we all agree that Jakarta must be more democratic so
that officials, particularly mayors, do not only report good
things to the governor so they are reappointed .... We will lobby
House members to consider the decentralization issue," Suaidy
told the Post.
He expressed optimism that the proposal would receive a
positive response from the House.
Commenting on the Sutiyoso administration's apparent
reluctance to embrace decentralization, Suaidy said the
bureaucrats at the provincial level benefited from the current
system.
"They control all of the activities, from the subdistrict
level to municipalities and regencies. If decentralization was
approved, they would lose a lot of power," Suaidy said.