Govt chided as 'incompetent' in autonomy implementation

Muhammad Nafik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The central government has been accused of "incompetence and insincerity" in its attempts to share power with the regions, critics say.

Autonomy law expert Ryaas Rasyid said autonomy implementation had been hampered by thousands of incompatible bylaws and presidential decrees.

"There are hundreds or thousands of problematic regional regulations and at least 197 presidential decrees, which should immediately be revoked but the central government refuses to do so," Ryaas said Thursday.

The controversial presidential decrees include areas relating to mines, education, health services, forestry, investment, trade and industry.

Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno suggested last January that at least 68 bylaws enacted by provincial and regency administrations be revoked as they contradicted national laws.

Earlier the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN) demanded that thousands of bylaws be scrapped or reviewed for allegedly hindering business in the regions.

Ryass was speaking at a discussion on a book titled Decentralization, Democratization and Accountability of Regional Administrations, which comprises a number of opinions written by leading scholars.

Ryass, who contributed an article to the publication, said the central government had issued several recent rulings inconsistent with Law No. 22/1999 on regional autonomy and Law No. 25/1999 on fiscal balance between the central and regional governments.

Ryaas cited as an example a presidential decree on land management issued in 2000 during former president Abdurrahman Wahid's tenure, and a government regulation on forestry enacted by the current government.

He attributed the central government's incompetence on its refusal to enact specific guidelines on the autonomy law, which had sparked widespread confusion.

"The government's refusal to enact supporting regulations is part of its incompetence. We have reminded them to do so, but they say it is not necessary," said Ryaas, who once led a political reform team under former president B.J. Habibie.

Ryaas criticized the central government for failing to take responsibility to make decentralization a success, saying autonomy continued "to develop anti-autonomy rhetoric" among members of the public.

Indra J. Piliang, a researcher with the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), was also critical of the central government's incompetence in dealing with autonomy implementation.

President Megawati Soekarnoputri's recent statement that Indonesian workers deported from Malaysia were the responsibility of regional administrations showed just how badly the government understood its own laws, he said.

Indra told the discussion that the central government should have been aware the issue of deported workers was its responsibility in connection with bilateral ties between Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur.

Ryaas, who recently launched the Unity, Democracy and Nationhood Party (PPDK), warned against government moves to create new regencies and provinces as it could trigger new political problems.

"With the regional expansions, regencies with an insufficient population may not have a single representative in legislative bodies," he said.