Govt backs down on plan to revise autonomy law
Govt backs down on plan to revise autonomy law
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The government has backtracked on its earlier decision to review
a law on regional autonomy and agreed to wait until an evaluation
of the legislation is completed before making changes.
Speaking at the second national working meeting of the
Association of Regency Administrations (Apkasi) here on
Wednesday, Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno announced the
government's decision not to review Law No. 22/1999 on regional
autonomy as demanded by regional administrations.
The decision received noisy applause from around 150 regents
who attended the meeting.
A proposal for revision of the law came from former director
general of regional autonomy Sudarsono, who insisted that the law
needed revision due to irregularities, particularly concerning
budget allocations and the elections of the heads of regional
administrations.
One of the most controversial contents of the draft of
amendments to the law is an article that allows the president to
dissolve regional legislatures.
Sudarsono's proposal resulted in strained relations between
the central government and regency administrations, who suspected
that it was only a ploy to return to a centralized system.
The threat issued by 48 regencies on Monday to blockade oil
and gas operations due to a disappointing revenue split is the
latest example of conflict between the central government and
local governments in the wake of regional autonomy
implementation.
Hari called on regional administrations to strive for
improvements in the implementation of the law.
"It is time we took strategic measures to keep our
commitment ... that regional autonomy is mandated by Article 18
of the 1945 Constitution and that the government is committed to
improving the law and will not return to a centralized system,"
Hari said, as quoted by Antara.
The minister also called for close cooperation between the
central government and provincial, regency as well as municipal
administrations in implementing the law, to disseminate the law
and to educate people on its implications.
Apkasi chairman Syaukani HR welcomed the decision as an
encouraging shift from the government's earlier decision.
"This is an encouraging change after (the government) seemed
to backtrack on regional autonomy simply because of some
irregularities," said Syaukani.
"There is a better understanding on regional autonomy among
regional administrations, thanks to efforts from the new director
general of regional autonomy," he said, referring to Oentarto,
Sudarsono's predecessor.
Meanwhile, Oentarto said he would issue operational
regulations to support the implementation of the autonomy law.
The regulations would deal with specific needs of certain
regions, including their authority in maritime matters, forestry
and port management, he said.