True democracy remains distant dream for capital

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

One demonstration after another in the capital doesn't make Jakarta a democratic city and if the current administration has anything to do with it, the city is likely to stay undemocratic for some time.

While other regions across the country are busy preparing for the first direct elections of regents or mayors, Jakarta is the single province where the governor still appoints regional officials.

A spokeman for Governor Sutiyoso's administration said on Sunday the administration believed direct regional elections in the city were not a priority and would do more harm than good.

"I could not imagine it being applied to the capital ... Greater autonomy for mayors and regents would only make the problems here more complicated," City spokesman Catur Laswanto told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

Playing down the arguments of some political experts and councillors who believe greater democracy would lead to greater accountability and improve services in the city, Catur argued that Jakarta, which hosts the central government offices, foreign embassies and multinational companies, was substantially different from other cities in the country.

"Jakarta bears the name 'special region' since any activities conducted here strategically affect the country in general ... We think the policy we apply, so far, has run well," he said.

Catur claimed that the mayors and regents in Jakarta were more like civil servants because they were appointed by the governor and could concentrate on carrying out policy, not making it.

"The autonomy is in the hands of the provincial administration -- the governor," he said.

More local autonomy would only mean more time-consuming consultation, he said.

"If the Central Jakarta mayor wants to build new roads or parks bordering with roads belonging to other mayoralties, he or she would have to consult first with other relevant mayors before going ahead with the plan.

"Or, to take another example, when the President wants to travel from Central Jakarta to South Jakarta, would we have to spend time first coordinating with the relevant mayors?" he said jokingly.

Another important factor, Catur argued, was physical size of Jakarta.

"Compared to other municipalities or regencies in other provinces, Jakarta's municipalities and regency are much smaller," he said.

Jakarta has five municipalities: Central Jakarta, South Jakarta, West Jakarta, East Jakarta, North Jakarta and the Thousand Islands regency.

Depok, the first municipality in the Greater Jakarta area to have a direct election, had an area of 20,500 hectares, or one third of the total Jakarta area of 65,000 hectares, he said. The biggest municipality in the city, South Jakarta, meanwhile, was 14,570 hectares, while the Central Jakarta municipality had the smallest area of only 4,820 hectares, he said.

An urban planning expert with Trisakti University Yayat Supriatna said the greater corruption likely to result from elected regional officials could bring important development programs and local services in the city to a standstill.

"Instead of improving the services to the public, we would witness new mayors with stronger authorities competing for power, like small kings, at the expense of the residents," Yayat said.

"What we need the most currently is to integrate programs in different areas, let say, in Greater Jakarta to solve urban problems, like flooding, waste treatment, and population (growth)," Yayat told the Post.

However, Yayat believed residents would see a radical change in the approach to public services when civilians took charge of the city. Former military men have been appointed run the city since ex-marine Ali Sadikin took power in 1966.

Sutiyoso, a former Army general, will end his second term in 2006 and the city will elect its first governor in 2007.