Regional autonomy program will boost democracy: Rudini

SEMARANG (JP): The current drive for greater regional autonomy will not only check the public's negative views of the centralistic administration of the government, but also strengthen democratization, a political observer says.

Former home minister Rudini said in a seminar on Tuesday that demands for greater regional autonomy are a reaction against the increasingly unpopular centralistic administration.

"The public's dislike of the undemocratic centralism creates negative views about the government," said the retired Army general who now heads the Institute for Strategic Studies of Indonesia.

"This is despite the fact that not all countries have governments which adhere to (the concept of) centralism," he said.

The United States, which is a federal state, grants full autonomy to individual states, but the former Soviet Union, another federal nation, was very centralistic.

"When the rush for globalization set in, centralism started to fold up," he said. "Russia and other former Soviet Union states have to struggle to adjust to a new, more democratic environment which gives people greater say in the running of the country."

The Indonesian government launched a trial of the regional autonomy project in 26 selected regencies last May. The project's aim is to give regency governments greater authority in managing their internal affairs.

Other speakers at the seminar held by the Diponegoro University's School of Social and Political Sciences included Sumitro Maskun, the director general in charge of regional autonomy at the Ministry of Home Affairs, and Benyamin Hossein, a staff lecturer at the University of Indonesia.

Rudini said the quest for greater regional autonomy cannot be separated from that of democratization, which requires greater public participation in all decision making processes.

"The most important feature of the project for greater regional autonomy is that the essence of democracy, which is people's sovereignty in all aspects of life, will develop better," he said.

Ever since the inception of the republic, Indonesians have been encouraged to stay away from centralism and centralistic administration, he recalled.

"Even President Soeharto has reminded us all that centralism has no place in our future government system," Rudini said.

"This drive for greater autonomy is a real thing. It's not merely a political slogan," he insisted. (har/swe)