Government plans direct elections for heads of regions by 2004
Government plans direct elections for heads of regions by 2004
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
In a bid to get more support for the revision of the regional
autonomy law, the government announced on Thursday that it would
include a clause on direct elections for governors, regents and
mayors across the country in its proposed bill to amend the law.
The plan received support from autonomy expert Ryaas Rasyid,
former state minister of administrative reforms. Nevertheless, he
cautioned the government not to use the moment to overhaul the
law to take back some authorities already relegated to local
administrations.
Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno, nevertheless, said that
the proposed direct election for regional heads aimed to allow
the people to directly choose their leaders and prevent possible
dismissals of regional heads by local legislative councils as has
been the case in several provinces in recent months.
"That way, we would minimize political maneuvers by regional
councils to unseat the heads of local administrations," Hari
said.
The country has seen a number of cases where a governor or
regent is fired by local legislative councils, without clear
reasons. And such dismissals were conducted simply by a no-
confidence vote, and not through a lengthy process of legislative
investigation.
The latest incident occurred in Kampar regency, Riau, where
local legislative council voted on Oct. 12 to oust Kampar regent
Jefri Noer and his deputy A. Zakir for poor performance.
Before that, the South Kalimantan legislative council also
voted out Governor Sjachril Darham. Also, Surabaya (East Java)
legislative council successfully unseated mayor Sunarto
Somoprawiro, and later once again got rid of Sunarto's successor,
Bambang Dwi Hartono.
The government has put all the dismissals of regional heads on
hold, except for Sunarto.
Ryaas Rasyid said he supported the government's plan to amend
Regional Autonomy Law No. 22/1999 if the motive was to introduce
direct elections for regional heads.
Such direct elections, according to Ryaas, would not only
prevent irresponsible dismissals of regional heads by local
councils but also it would be a check against too much
intervention by local councils into the affairs of local
administration.
"I think it is a good idea to revise the law as long it aims
to introduce direct elections at regional levels and not to
restore centralization of power, Ryaas told The Jakarta Post.
The Regional Autonomy Law, passed during the administration of
former president Abdurrahman Wahid when Ryaas was a member of the
Cabinet, has given much greater authority to local
administrations and local councils.
President Megawati Soekarnoputri, who was handed the
presidency after Abdurrahman was pushed out by legislators,
considers the Autonomy Law a danger to the unitary state of
Indonesia, and therefore she has been pushing for revisions.
The plan for revision, however, has met strong resistance from
various quarters, especially regents, mayors and local
legislative councils.
If the process of the revision proceeds smoothly, Hari said,
the proposed direct elections for governors, regents and mayors
could be implemented before the 2004 direct presidential
election.
"Just wait for the revision of the regional autonomy law, we
hope it will be done before the 2004 general election," Hari
added.
Hari's statement on direct elections for regional heads was
the first of its kind voiced by a Cabinet member.
Several non-governmental organizations such as the Center for
Electoral Reform (CETRO) have proposed direct elections as the
best solution to solve rampant conflicts between heads of local
administrations and legislative councils.
Direct regional elections could also solve the problem of
separatism, as this could satisfy the demand of self-governance
by separatist groups such as in Aceh.