Regional autonomy simply absurd, experts say

Regional autonomy simply absurd, experts say

Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

In order to ensure regional autonomy, the government has been
urged to amend the law on regional administrations, which still
places governors, mayors and regents as subordinates of the
central government.

Researcher Sjamsuddin Haris from the Indonesian Institute of
Sciences (LIPI) said that regional autonomy empowerment must be
preceded by the amendment of Law No. 32/2004 on regional
autonomy.

"The spirit of the law is still (a) centralistic
(government)," he told a seminar attended by very few
participants on Thursday.

Sjamsuddin said that the law, for instance, stipulates that
the central government conduct monitoring and training of local
administrations, thus obligating these administrations to always
consult with the central government.

The law also states that local legislative councils, whose
members are directly elected, are an element of local
administrations, he added.

He said that without good regulation, the upcoming direct
regional elections would just be a procedural achievement instead
of substantial, as they would not contribute to the quality
improvement of democratization and regional autonomy in the
country.

LIPI researcher Siti Zuhro similarly said that the law on
regional autonomy only supported the political interests of major
parties and lawmakers.

"Slowly but surely, regional autonomy will be eliminated.
There will be no legal certainty that we will receive good
service from local government. The autonomy is only for the
elite," she said.

Legal revisions through the Constitutional Court were still
partial and did not satisfy those wanting to amend the law, Siti
said. "The law must be amended to avoid controversy."

A similar view was expressed by another researcher Syarif
Hidayat who said Law No. 32/2004 was a fait accompli as it was
passed without going through a public debate.

"A democratic governmental system cannot be pursued merely
through local direct elections. It must be inherent within the
democratic behavior after the elections. Since the process of the
regional elections is not yet democratic, and filled with
collusive practices, the post-election (administration) will be
no different," he said.

The process of direct regional elections, Syarif added, was
full of conspiracies between politics and business, and it would
be no surprise that local executive chiefs would be more loyal to
their political and business patrons than to their constituents.

"What will emerge after the elections is a 'shadow state' or
'shadow government', which is defeated by other powers outside
governmental structure; and 'informal economy' or collusion
between government and business sectors," Syarif said.

Instead of regional autonomy, he added, what will appear is a
hidden autonomy where local elites manipulate formal policies to
gain personal profits.

"Therefore, clear regulations are very much needed," Syarif
said.

He said direct regional elections are still needed to pursue
good local governance, but political campaigns for people need to
be boosted.

"Money politics is unavoidable, with many justifying it as a
'political cost'. To reduce the practice of money politics,
monitoring has to be improved," Syarif said.

Sjamsuddin added that local consensus has to be established to
minimize problems caused by the direct regional elections.

"It's not guaranteed that regulations can protect local
people. Therefore, local initiatives or regulations are needed,"
he said.