Regional autonomy concept: Feodalisme in disguise

Regional autonomy concept: Feodalisme in disguise Calvin M Sidjaya ;  A Research Associate at Royston Advisory Indonesia

JAKARTA POST, 17 Desember 2012

Indonesia embarked on its regional autonomy era 13 years ago as part of its political reforms. Decentralization was adopted to loosen the tight control of the central government over the regions and entrust them with self-governing authority. Regional autonomy is regulated under the Regional Government Law, but the law is unfortunately flawed due to absence of a checks and balances mechanism in relations between the central and regional governments. The years since the law have been marked with scandals and acts of defiance of the law itself on the part of regional heads. One of the most obvious acts of defiance took place in Bogor, where the mayor refused to comply with the Supreme Court ruling that allows the Taman Yasmin Christian Church (GKI) church to worship.  Data from the Home Ministry reveals that since the inception of regional autonomy, some 1,000 regional heads and high-ranking regional officials have undergone investigations, mostly for corruption. Most recently, the public was shocked by reports of Garut Regent Aceng HM Fikri who tied the knot with a teenager in an unregistered marriage in July only to divorce her after four days. Public demands for his dismissal have surfaced. He has also been embroiled in corruption and extortion cases.  These examples are just a small portion of a wider picture of a growing number of deviant regional leaders that have left the public bedazzled. Why cannot President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono or Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi dismiss them? To answer this, we have to look at the 2004 Regional Autonomy Law. Article 38 says that a governor only holds normative powers such as “guiding” and “coordinating” regional heads. The regional heads, such as mayors and regents, can only be impeached by the Regional Legislative Council (DPRD) in question, through lengthy deliberation after the Supreme Court finds them guilty. The council can then recommend that the President dismiss the regional leaders. Former Subang regent Eep Hidayat and former Bekasi mayor Mochtar Mochammad were dismissed last year following long legal and political processes. The complicated procedure was implemented to ensure a balance of power between the central and regional governments.  However, it turns out that the absence of checks and balances causes numerous problems. The existing law prevents the President or the home minister from intervening in domestic affairs within the regional government.  People have to rely on the legislative council to have problematic leaders dismissed. Regional autonomy has practically diminished the central government’s legitimacy to enforce law and order.  Wide-ranging powers were entrusted to regional leaders to minimize intervention from the central government. It is well known that Java, particularly Jakarta, has for a long time been accused of treating other regions asymmetrically, squeezing resources from rich regions and leaving them in poverty.  However, regional autonomy has contributed positively to local economies as evident in the rapid increase of gross regional product (GRP) per capita. The statistics compiled by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) found that GRP per capita increased by an average of 15.71 percent during the period of 2004-2010. Despite its flaws, regional autonomy is necessary for ensuring regions stand an equal chance of increasing their welfare.  Given rampant power abuse and graft cases involving local officials and the conflict between regional and national regulations, a revision of the regional autonomy law is pressing. Violations of the law involving regional heads should serve as a warning for the central government and the House of Representatives to not take these cases lightly. A revision to the regional government law should include an amendment to Article 76 that will allow a governor to impose sanctions on regents or mayors. Empowering governors could prevent regional heads from abusing their power. The governor could recommend that the President or home minister terminate the term of a regional head if the DPRD fails to hold a plenary session to impeach a regional head 14 days after he or she is found guilty in court. A new problem may arise as the power will then shift to governors, as nobody can guarantee if they are part of the corruption circle or not. Indonesia’s experiment with regional autonomy has proved Lord Acton’s famous quote to be correct: “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” A lack of a proper mechanism has turned regional autonomy into feudalism in disguise, with regional heads being able to abuse their power without limit. ●