Government revising law on regional authonomy
Government revising law on regional authonomy
JAKARTA (JP): The government is revising the laws on regional
autonomy and central-regional fiscal balance in a move to reduce
regency administrations' control over natural and financial
resources.
Outgoing Minister of Home Affairs and Regional Autonomy
Soerjadi Soedirdja said on Friday that amendment of the laws
was needed as part of the government's efforts to "support local
growth without sacrificing national unity."
Soerjadi said that the laws contained rulings allowed regional
administrations to become overly independent to the point that it
threatened to produce national disintegration.
"But, please note that this doesn't mean that the central
government does not support regional autonomy," Soerjadi told
reporters after attending a ceremony in which he handed over
office to his successor Hari Sabarno.
Regional autonomy has become a thorny issue in Indonesia.
Critics have voiced concerns that the laws have given overly-
broad authority to regency governments in generating their own
revenues and managing their domestic affairs. The rapid rate of
destruction of forests in places like Sumatra and Kalimantan over
the time since the laws came into effect has been attributed to
the new autonomy.
The demand for autonomy grew after the fall in 1998 of the New
Order regime which was widely resented for ignoring development
in the provinces. The strongest demands for autonomy came from
provinces rich in natural resources such as Irian Jaya, Riau, and
Aceh.
The laws were quickly drafted but some problems, however,
began to surface. For example, investors are confused about which
administration -- local or central -- has the authority to issue
permits.
Several regencies have also issued their own regulations
without guidance from Jakarta.
Even the then vice president Megawati Soekarnoputri criticized
the autonomy concept, saying that the Laws, especially Law No.
22/1999, went against the principle of Indonesia being a unitary
state as laid down in the 1945 Constitution.
The laws being revised are Laws No. 22/1999 on regional
autonomy and Law No. 25/1999 on fiscal balance between the
central government and local administrations.
Soerjadi said that the draft amendments were almost finished
and that he expected them to be submitted soon to the House of
Representatives for approval.
Meanwhile, newly-appointed Minister of Home Affairs Hari
Sabarno said that the implementation of regional autonomy must
not create unfair competition among the regions because not all
regencies in Indonesia were equally rich in natural resources.
"The regional autonomy laws must also be in line with the
principle of the unitary Republic of Indonesia," Hari said.
When asked whether the revisions might go against the spirit
of democracy, Hari said: "Time will tell whether I am a democrat,
or a dictator." (tso)