South Sulawesi governor slams autonomy law

Muninggar Sri Sarashwati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

South Sulawesi Governor Amin Syam has filed an appeal with the Constitutional Court over an autonomy law he claims disadvantages his provincial government.

In the appeal filed last week, the governor said certain articles in the law on the establishment of West Sulawesi province were unfair and discriminatory.

The law requires South Sulawesi province to pay Rp 8 billion for two consecutive years to West Sulawesi province, which was partitioned off from South Sulawesi last November.

Amin argues this type of stipulation did not appear in any other law on the establishment of a new province, including Gorontalo, Banten and Riau.

"We do not oppose the establishment of the new West Sulawesi province, but such financial obligations burden the budget of the South Sulawesi provincial government," said Amin in the appeal.

If the law is enforced, then part of the South Sulawesi budget will go into West Sulawesi's coffers and reduce the financial ability of the South Sulawesi government to carry out development projects in its own province, he said.

The appeal also criticized sanction threatened by the central government if the South Sulawesi government refused to disburse the money to West Sulawesi.

The law states the central government will not disburse a sizable fiscal balance fund to South Sulawesi if it fails to pay West Sulawesi the Rp 8 billion.

West Sulawesi province was established on Nov. 22, bringing the number of provinces in the country to 33.

Following the creation of the new province, the total number of regencies in the country now stands at 349, while there are 91 municipalities.

The people of West Sulawesi had long dreamed of their own province. West Sulawesi natives, called the Mandar people, have been attempting to separate from South Sulawesi for 50 years.

Their efforts intensified in 1997 when a group of Mandar people established a forum called the Committee for the Struggle to Establish West Sulawesi Province. West Sulawesi natives felt they had been neglected for years by the provincial administration and aspired to manage their own affairs.

The Constitutional Court is expected to begin considering Amin's appeal in January.

This is not the first dispute over an autonomy law. Earlier, the Papua provincial administration filed an appeal with the Constitutional Court against a law partitioning Papua into three provinces.