Rejections grow against autonomy law revision

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).