Pressure grows for Bali special autonomy status
Pressure grows for Bali special autonomy status
I Wayan Juniartha, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar
Amid public anger in Bali over the latest terrorist attacks on
the island, a number of senior local politicians and
intellectuals have launched a campaign to push for special
autonomy.
Local politicians from the Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle (PDI-P) and student activists -- who have been at the
forefront of the movement -- said such special status would bring
more prosperity and security to Bali.
"Bali is a unique entity, from the cultural perspective as
well as the social and religious ones. It is also provides the
backbone of the nation's tourism industry, contributing millions
of dollars to the state treasury," intellectual and legal expert
Dewa Ngurah Swastha said on Thursday.
"In this respect, it is quite natural that we should ask the
government to grant the island special autonomy," he said.
Swastha is one of the members of the Special Autonomy
Committee (TSA), which has been established to prepare the legal
groundwork for special autonomy. The 21-member committee was set
up after a meeting initiated by the Bali provincial chapter of
the PDI-P.
Chaired by Bali Deputy Governor Alit Kesuma Kelakan of the PDI-P,
the team comprises representatives from various political
parties, religious and community leaders, and other well-known
local figures, including noted economist Erawan, respected
anthropologist I Wayan Geria and expert in traditional Balinese
law I Wayan Windia.
"So far, we have met twice to review all the existing
regulations on regional autonomy and budgeting, and to assess all
the social, cultural and economic resources of the island,"
Swastha said.
Meanwhile, the Bali legislative council has also established a
special committee (Pansus) to weigh up the available political
options for applying for special autonomy.
"The drafts and recommendations produced by the two committees
will be submitted to the Bali governor's office, which will be
responsible for compiling, reviewing and drafting the final
document before we go to Jakarta," Swastha said.
The final document is expected to set out at least two
critical demands.
"First, we want wider and greater powers for the governor and
the provincial administration. The current Local Autonomy Law has
actually reduced the powers of the provincial administration and
increased the powers of the regents and regental
administrations," Swastha said.
Being a small island, he argued, the prevailing arrangement
rendered the provincial administration ineffective, and
fragmented the island along regency lines, thus preventing the
implementation of island-wide, unified policies.
"Second, we want an appropriate share of the island's tourism
revenues and also a healthy share of the profits made by a number
of state companies in Bali, such as the firms running Ngurah Rai
International Airport and Benoa harbor," he said.
"Up to now, the bulk of the tourism revenues goes to the
central government and we've never got anything substantial from
the state companies," he complained.
The move has, however, been greeted coolly by other
politicians and intellectuals.
"I don't think that special autonomy will automatically solve
all of the problems we are currently facing," said influential
legislator Widiada.
"More money and more powers will be useless if the local
bureaucrats do not have the ability to run an efficient and clean
administration," he added.
This rival group fears that in the end the move would simply
mean a shift in corruption and abuse of power from the central
government to the provincial or regental administrations.
"Here we have many legislators who only care about new cars
and salary increases, and bureaucrats who try their best to
enrich themselves. Given this background, special autonomy or not,
for the Balinese people nothing will change for the better," poet
Tan Lioe Ie said.