Regional autonomy beginning of the end for Indonesia?

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Disputes sparked by conflicts of interest between the central government and regional administrations in connection with the implementation of regional autonomy early this year could endanger national unity, analysts warn.

"The implementation of regional autonomy legislation could be the beginning of the end for the Republic of Indonesia, if the disputes continue," A.S. Hikam, a researcher from the National Institute of Sciences (LIPI), said at a seminar on regional autonomy and regionalism over the weekend.

Disputes have arisen out of a lack of mutual trust between the central and regional governments, according to Hikam, who was a research and technology minister under former president Abdurrahman Wahid.

Hikam said that the central government still feared losing its authority should the regional autonomy law be fully implemented because, for many regional administrations, autonomy had become an instrument for collecting as much income as possible.

He explained that the implementation of regional autonomy legislation in many regions had also sparked divisive sentiment among local leaders, who demanded that positions within their administrations be given to local indigenous people.

"If such sentiment is adopted overwhelmingly, ignoring the national context, it will become a boomerang that will be fatal for the integrity of our nation.

"With such a way of thinking and because of short-term interests, the regional autonomy law is no longer being implemented to empower the people and develop a united, sovereign, just and prosperous nation," Hikam said.

Hikam added that the situation is worsened by the less conducive atmosphere of macropolitical conditions because of ongoing conflict among the political elite and horizontal conflict among groups in several regions of the country.

Andi Mallarangeng, former assistant to the state minister for regional autonomy affairs, said regional autonomy would be able to strengthen national unity if it were implemented in a proper way.

"The problem is that regional autonomy was only implemented half-heartedly. This can cause disappointment among many regions," Andi told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

He said closure of the office of state minister for regional autonomy affairs indicated that the government did not consider regional autonomy a priority.

He also warned that the government's plan to revise the regional autonomy law should not be aimed at reversing the decentralization program implemented since 2000.

"It is okay if revisions to the law are aimed at improving its weaknesses but, for me, the most important thing the government has to do at present is draft supporting regulations to the law through government regulations and presidential decrees," he added.

According to Andi, the absence of supporting regulations as well as adequate supervision from the central government has caused difficulties in the law's implementation.

Hikam said, however, the government should go ahead with plans to revise the law as long as adjustments touched on the fundamental principles, especially the new way Indonesian people viewed the spirit of nationalism.