Regional autonomy in the eyes of Islam
Regional autonomy in the eyes of Islam
From Forum Keadilan
Regional autonomy has presented various problems. This was admitted by the Minister of Home Affairs and Regional Autonomy, who stated that certain authorities remain a crucial barrier between the central government and provincial administrations. In other words, regional autonomy has prompted a conflict of interest between the central government and provinces and between neighboring provinces and regencies.
Examples include the problem of relocating employees, the distribution of general funds from central government to regional administrations that have insufficient funds to pay local civil servants their salaries as well as other operational costs in running their bureaucracies. No less crucial is the possibility that the practice of corruption, collusion and nepotism will move from the center to the regions.
In my opinion, the delegation of full authority and responsibility from the center to the regions is contradictory to the Islamic government system. Islam has made it an obligation for Islamic countries to adopt a unitary system. Although khilafah (a unitary country) consists of a number of regions, each region remains part of the unit.
So if a Muslim society has elected a khafilah (leader), the latter has the right to stipulate regulations to be implemented by the administration. He is also entitled to establish laws by which to govern the financial affairs of the whole territory. Then the governors, judges and military commanders of the regions serve only as helpers, aiding the central leader in executing his policies. Regional authorities have no right to determine policies in full and should have no complete control over their affairs without the knowledge and supervision of central government.
Central government should manage the budget of each of the regions proportionally. If a region has a financial surplus, it shouldn't spend all its funds as the expenditure should correspond to its necessities. Any excess funds should be transferred to the central treasury. On the other hand, if a region experiences a deficit, the khafilah must allocate funds to the region concerned to cope with its problems.
Individual necessity should be taken care of in a fair manner. The state should collect wealth from the public according to Islamic rules, and in turn, distribute it justly among the people in order to be sure that wealth isn't solely managed to benefit only the rich.
So the regional autonomy is still a speculation and its result remains to be seen.
AULIYA ASH SHIDDIQ
Garut, West Java