'Federal state improper for RI'
'Federal state improper for RI'
JAKARTA (JP): A state administration based on federalism
cannot work in an archipelagic country like Indonesia, experts
and officials said on Saturday.
Harun Alrasid, a professor of constitutional law at the
University of Indonesia, said Indonesia should maintain its
unitary state because the nation-building process was not yet
completed.
"No way to the federal state option. It is against the 1945
Constitution, and not suitable for a country consisting of
thousands of islands. Archipelagic terrain is contradictory to
the idea of federalism," he said during a seminar on autonomy
versus federalism here on Saturday.
Harun hailed the government's move to implement the regional
autonomy law to allow provinces to manage their own resources. He
said a combination of regional autonomy and decentralized
authority in certain fields was expected to reduce the threat of
disintegration.
He suggested the government and security authorities take
stern measures against separatist activities in the provinces.
"Once the government tolerates a province's wish to secede,
the nation will disintegrate," he warned.
Hasyim Djalal, a professor of international sea law at
Padjadjaran University in Bandung, said a federal state would
likely prove to be a disadvantage to Indonesia.
"If the option is adopted, Indonesia will face a serious
threat of disintegration because of rivalries and conflicts that
will easily explode among federal states," he said.
He noted that the federal system only worked in conterminous
countries such as the United States, India and Australia, while
archipelagic countries such as Japan and the Philippines adopted
other systems.
He said a unitary state which allowed regional autonomy
similar to the principles of federalism was suitable, if not
ideal, for the current Indonesia.
"Therefore, the government should implement regional autonomy
immediately," he said.
Another speaker at the seminar, Lt. Gen. Johny Lumintang,
governor of the National Resilience Institute, said that from the
point of view of defense, Indonesia would face difficulty
maintaining stability under a federal system.
"Indonesia will pay a high price in its defense if it adopts
the federal system, which will raise crucial points in its
defense field. Foreign infiltration through the sea will be
unavoidable," he said.
He also warned that conflict among federal states would be
unavoidable because of border disputes. He said the nation's
pluralism would also make the federal state more difficult to
maintain.
A political expert from the University of Indonesia, Maswadi
Rauf, said the idea of a federal state had been raised in
response to the repressive governments of the past.
"Many provinces no longer have confidence in the central
government because of their suffering in the past, and this is
why Aceh, Riau and Papua turned down the government's offer of
autonomy," he said.
He said the New Order regime's implementation of the unitary
state was the main reason the province's had lost confidence in
the government in Jakarta.
Political observer J. Kristiadi said all governmental systems
would fail without democracy.
"Without the true implementation of democracy, both the
unitary state and regional autonomy will be useless, because
without a true democracy any governmental system that is adopted
will certainly be authoritarian," he said. (rms)