Rejections grow against autonomy law revision

Kurniawan Hari and Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government's move to revise Law No. 22/1999 on Regional Administration suffered a severe setback after Golkar, the second biggest faction in the House of Representatives (DPR), joined the opposition to the plan, arguing that it was too early to modify the law, which went into effect on Jan. 1, 2001.

Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung said on Saturday that his party had rejected the plan before the government made any assessment about its implementation.

"It is still too early to revise the law, and we think we need to assess its implementation before making any modifications," Akbar said before attending a Golkar youth meeting.

Instead of revising the law, he said, the government should draft the necessary regulations to support Law No. 22/1999, also known as the Autonomy Law.

Golkar's opposition came after experts and the Association of Local Indonesian Councils (Adeksi) expressed a strong resistance to the planned revision.

This is likely to hamper moves by the government to modify the law, considering Golkar has 120 representatives in the House, and is thus the second-biggest party after the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), which has 153 seats.

Former state minister for regional autonomy Ryaas Rasyid, one of the main authors of the law, said that the revision of Law No. 22/1999 was part of a series of moves to re-centralize the government.

On Saturday, former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid questioned a clause in the draft revision which said that the president would be given the authority to dissolve the legislative councils of the regional areas.

Gus Dur called on the government to open up a debate on the clause before submitting it for revision. "So far, there has been no explanation for it," he said.

Overall, however, Gus Dur seemed to agree with the revision plans largely, he said, because he felt that the existing law was rife with shortcomings.

"The autonomy law is poor because three-fourths of Indonesia's money in circulation is in the city of Jakarta alone -- this is a disparity caused by centralism," he said.

The revision plan emerged last year, and the government had reportedly discussed the revision draft during a cabinet meeting on Jan. 23.

In a hearing with legislators of House Commission II on Feb. 4, Home Affairs Minister Hari Sabarno denied suggestions that the planned revision was part of a broader strategy to increase the government's grip on regional administrations.

Hari, a former chief of East Java's military command, said that the revision was planned to harmonize relations between the central and regional governments.

His statement seemingly underscored conflicts between the central and regional administrations concerning profits the state has received from foreign-invested enterprises operating in any regional areas.

The vague regulations posed in the autonomy law, he said, are to blame for the misperception.

Meanwhile, Ali Anafia, deputy chairman of Adeksi and also the speaker of Pontianak legislative council, said that the revision of Law No. 22/1999 must be rejected, as it lets the central government "re-centralize its powers over locals."

Ali said that the government does not have time to investigate the implementation of the Autonomy Law as "the regional autonomy has been implemented for one year only."

"The planned revision was triggered not by the local failure to implement the autonomy law, but because the central government has lost control since the autonomy was implemented in Jan. 1, 2001," said Ali of the Golkar Party.

"How could the government say that the law has the potential to create disputes between the central government and local administrations -- or between local administrations themselves -- if the central government is yet to make guidelines for the law?" Ali asked.

Proposed revisions:

Article 41 1.) A local legislative council could be dissolved by the president, if: a.) It fails to meet quorum five times in a row; b.) It halts the activities of a local administration; c.) There is a motion of distrust submitted by at least one- third of its constituents; 2.) The dissolution is made after receiving a legal opinion from the Supreme Court. 3.) Further rules concerning the dissolution will be enforced in government regulation.

Article 74 1.) Secretary to provincial administration is officiated by the home minister on the request of the governor (Under current law, the secretary to the provincial administration is officiated by the governor, based on the approval of the legislative council).