Govt to issue ruling on officials' progress report
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)