Govt to issue ruling on officials' progress report

JAKARTA (JP): Amid boisterous public demonstrations accompanying regional the accountability of administrators before local councils, the government has decided to issue a ruling to regulate and avoid growing misperceptions about such presentations.

State Minister for Regional Autonomy Ryaas Rasyid said on Tuesday that such a regulation was urgently needed due to the public's misperception about the annual accountability.

"According to the law on regional autonomy, governors, regents and mayors are obliged to unveil their accountability speeches before provincial and regency legislatures," he said.

"But the accountability should not be misused to impeach them," he Ryaas told a hearing with the House of Representatives Commission for Mining, Energy, Sciences and Technology here on Tuesday.

Ryaas said a provincial legislative council could not impeach a governor for minor errors committed during a term of office.

"A governor or a regent can be impeached only for major violations or big scandals," he said.

"In their annual plenary sessions, provincial and regency legislative councils should remain critical of the government but it should be done in accordance with the democratic system we are now building."

"Such a plenary session should be an opportunity for governors and regents to exhibit their progress to the legislative councils."

Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso's annual accountability speech before the Jakarta Council on Monday was accompanied by boisterous demonstrations outside the council building demanding that his speech be rejected.

A similar incident occurred at the North Lampung regency.

Ryaas deplored the wave of demonstrations saying that they were really out of place.

"I'm surprised the Jakarta city council intends to reject Sutyoso's accountability speech," he said.

Touching on the progress of laying down the legal framework for regional autonomy, Ryaas said the government in the next three months would also issue eight more regulations to enforce the law on regional autonomy and the law on fiscal balance.

Asked about the planned special autonomy for Aceh and Irian Jaya, Ryaas said the government would submit two laws on special autonomy for the two provinces.

"The two bills will be handed over to the state secretary in the near future to be submitted to the House to be endorsed," he said.

He said it was feasible for Aceh and Irian Jaya to gain special authority to regulate Islam and Christianity in the two provinces. (rms)