Revision to law on regional autonomy on track

JAKARTA (JP): The government is forging ahead with its plan to revise the law on regional autonomy, a statute which has given rise to many new and difficult issues, especially regarding the relationship between the central government and regional administrations.

Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno said the revision of Law No. 22/1999 was aimed at providing a realistic and consistent legal basis for the decentralization process.

"The revision of the law is designed to create legal consistency so as to help ensure the success of its implementation," Hari said at a hearing with the House of Representatives here on Monday.

Problems arising in connection with the implementation of the law were highlighted during the hearing. Provincial governors, and even the central government, were often powerless to control the actions of the regents and mayors, who hold significant powers under the law.

A House member gave as an example the fact that several regents in Riau province had undertaken so-called comparative studies in the United States even though such studies had no significant relevance to the development of their regions.

Responding to the issue of the comparative studies conducted by the Riau regents, Hari said that his department had received reports about this but had no authority to ban them from going abroad.

"They have the money. We cannot ban them from going abroad to undertake comparative studies," said Hari, adding that it was the responsibility of regional legislative council members to control those regional chief executives who were abusing the public trust placed in them.

Hari said that the regional autonomy law amendment bill would give governors the authority to oversee the activities of the regents and mayors in their respective jurisdictions.

The central government frequently receives complaints from the regions in connection with the election of regional chief executives, with the supporters of the defeated candidates often lodging protests with the central government alleging rigged elections.

Commenting on such complaints, Hari stressed that under the regional autonomy law, the regions had the right to elect their own leaders.

He stressed that the central government expected the leaders in the provinces to be able to resolve their own problems.

"The regions should not return such problems to the central government. They should be able to resolve their own problems. Otherwise, regional autonomy will be meaningless," said Hari.

Hari also said that the government was studying the articles of the regional autonomy law which were difficult to implement, including those on maritime jurisdiction.

These articles presented difficulties for fishermen as they were not allowed to enter the territorial water of a neighboring jurisdiction unless they held the required permits.

Hari said the draft of the revised law was scheduled to be submitted to the House of Representatives for deliberation in November.

"I stress here that the revision of the law is not aimed at creating a centralized government as feared in certain circles," he said, adding that the revision would be undertaken through the amendment of those articles of the law whose implementation had sparked controversy.

Other aspects to be revised included the form and structure of regional administrations, basic concepts of decentralization, the duties of regional councils and the rights of governors as regards supervision, and conflicts between regions. (02)