Village heads in job protest
Suherdjoko, The Jakarta Post, Semarang
Over 1,000 village leaders from across Central Java staged a protest outside the governor's office on Monday, the latest in a series of protests demanding legal certainty over their positions.
The protesting village leaders were among 8,672 others across the province, who recently demanded an extension of their terms in office, while waiting for the issuance of a central government regulation on the appointment and dismissal of village leaders according to Law 32/2004 on regional administration.
In the protest on Monday, the village heads demanded that the Minister of Home Affairs immediately issue the government regulation.
"By the end of this year, 35 percent of heads of villages will end their terms in office. We want to have certainty on the procedure to appoint or dismiss them. To this point, there's no legal certainty on the matter," said Sudir Santoso, head of the Central Java Praja organization, which groups the village heads.
In dealing with these matters, Central Java Governor Mardiyanto earlier issued a circular allowing the village to temporarily appoint acting leaders once the office term expired.
"In reality, many villages interpret the circular wrongly. There are those who agree with the appointment of acting village heads, but there are areas, like in Banjarnegara, where the election of the village leader took place although it is not supported by legal certainty," Sudir said.
He said he had requested his members whose office terms had ended to remain in their position.
"If the regent still wants to hold elections, then the head of the village should ask for a dismissal from the regent. I'm sure the regent will not dare to issue a dismissal letter since such a move has no legal basis," he explained.
Meanwhile, Central Java Governor Mardiyanto said that the central government was currently working on the government regulation.
"I've told Minister of Home Affairs (M. Ma'ruf) about the protests. The provincial administration cannot issue a policy on the matter, we can only make a recommendation," Mardiyanto said.
Rowandi, the head of Kalimiru village in Bayan district, Purworejo regency, said he was confused by the contradictory laws and government regulations.
"I've been in the position since December 1998. At that time, Law No. 5/1979 stated that the village head's office term was eight years," he said.
Another one, Law No. 22/1999, stipulates that a village head serves for 10 years, while the latest one, Law No. 32/2004 says that a village head serves only for six years.
"I'm totally confused. Being a village head now is not easy. People keep protesting, while our superiors keep us under pressure.
"One bitter experience was when we had to register poor residents to allow them to get cash aid. Everybody wanted to get the money although not all of them were poor. In the end, other village heads and I became the enemies of our own residents," Rowandi said.
In terms of remuneration, village heads did not enjoy a comfortable life, claimed Supahar, the acting head of Kepuh village in Nguter district, Sukoharjo regency, who was given the right to work on a five-hectare rice field as his "payment" while serving his office term.
"With the land, it means I have to work as a farmer. When the price of rice falls and the price of fertilizer goes up, I get nothing by being a farmer," he explained.
Central Java provincial council speaker Murdoko received representatives of the village heads on Monday, promising that he would hold a public hearing with the governor, regents and representatives of the village heads to provide a solution to the problem.