Megawati campaigns autonomy rewrite

Megawati campaigns autonomy rewrite

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

President Megawati Soekarnoputri urged provincial legislative
council speakers to support the controversial plan by the central
government to revise Law No. 22/1999 on regional administration.

Speaking at a national meeting of provincial council speakers
from across the country on Friday, Megawati said the revision was
not aimed at reducing the authority of regional administrations,
but to minimize the excesses of regional autonomy.

"I reassure you there is no intention to retract, reduce or
scrap the autonomy, but we have to put the system on the right
track so it can secure the people's welfare," she said at the
State Palace, where the meeting was held.

"I urge all councillors to disseminate the reasons for the
revision to the public," she said.

Megawati warned that the autonomy now being exercised by
regional administrations could lead to disputes between regions
over natural resources and overexploitation of resources for the
sake of profit -- which was why the law needed revising.

"Some articles in the law need amending to strengthen national
integrity," she said, while asserting that regional autonomy
should improve the wealth of the people in provinces and
regencies.

"I believe the autonomy will work if local people stopped
talking about their rights and started to focus on their duty to
improving their own province or town."

Known for her off-the-cuff statements, Megawati also urged the
councillors to address the problems of unemployment in their
respective regions.

"It is not the job of the central government alone to provide
jobs and reduce the unemployment rate. It is the responsibility
of the regions to deal with the issue," she said.

The Regency Administrations' Association (APKASI) has strongly
rejected the planned revision, saying that it would revert the
country to the centralized system of Soeharto's New Order regime.

Megawati, who is one of the staunchest critics of a
decentralized government, has been speaking about revising the
law since she assumed power in July 2001.

She has repeatedly said regional autonomy was a threat to
national unity.

Aside form the issue of territorial integrity, complaints have
come from the business sector about the lack of legal certainty,
as there are many conflicting regional laws and bylaws.

The government is slated to submit the draft revision of the
Regional Administration Law, which came into effect in 2000, as
soon as possible, despite widespread opposition from regional
governments.

Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno said on Friday the
revision would cover the direct election of governors and
regents, relations between the central and regional governments
and allocation of state funds to the regions.

Hari said the revised Autonomy Law was expected to be
implemented in 2004, just ahead of the April 5 general elections.