World Report

Regional autonomy is producing positive results and lively debate throughout Indonesia, but more reforms are needed

Decentralisation is helping the country profit from its diversity

ndonesia is a country of staggering diversity. The world’s largest archipelago – of more than 17,000 islands – skirts the Equator and stretches more than 3,000 miles from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific. From east to west it covers approximately the same distance as from the west coast of Ireland to Georgia on the east coast of the Black Sea or Rostov-on-Don in eastern Ukraine.

Its population of 240 million is made up of many different peoples and cultures. Jakarta is home to 12 million citizens. The surrounding cities in West Java combine with the capital to make a metropolis of 35 million, while other parts of the country are extremely sparsely populated.

Since President Suharto left office in 1999 and Indonesia moved to a democratic and open form of government, one of the greatest challenges facing the country has been to manage and harness its diversity. With general and presidential elections scheduled for July, the country is now moving to the second stage of what are known locally as Transformasi and Reformasi, the twin pillars of the transition. The current ruling party, the Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P) and President Megawati Sukarnoputri, who is currently leading in the polls, are pursuing policies of transformation and reform. One of the main features of this transition has been the policy of decentralisation. The foundation stone was laid in 2001, when the national government in Jakarta handed power back to 32 provincial governors and approximately 350 kabupatens (also known as regencies or head of district in English) each of which is administered by an elected bupati.

It was not easy for the country to decide on exactly the right level of decentralisation. But after three years the policy of regional autonomy is already paying dividends across the whole of Indonesia and a lively debate has begun between the different tiers of government about how it can now be improved. This suggests an increased co-operation between the national government, provincial governors and the bupatis.

E. Koswara
Executive Secretary of the association of Indonesian Provincial Governments
‘I think we should distribute authority in a clear-cut manner’

One man arguing for further reform is E. Koswara, Executive Secretary of the Association of Indonesian Provincial Governments (APPSI). The Association was founded to stimulate the provision of democratic, professional, transparent, trustworthy and accountable local government and draws its membership from all 32 provincial governments.

Mr Koswara argues that authority to solve problems between the kabupatens within each province should be devolved from central government to provincial governors. “I think we should distribute authority in a clear-cut manner. For instance, security and defence, the judiciary, monetary and taxation issues and religious issues should be the responsibility of central government,” he says.

“But governors should provide solutions to regional problems. A relationship should be established between the governor and the bupatis, because otherwise it is difficult to maintain a harmonious relationship between central and local government. We need to create some sort of synergy within the system.”

These worries are echoed by the Governor of Jakarta, Sutiyoso, who is concerned that the autonomy created in 2001 is now slowing to a standstill. This highly-respected former Chief Commander of the armed forces has worked out a strategy to get reforms moving again. He has divided the governors into specialist committees dealing with specific issues at national government level.

“The objective must be to make all the regions autonomous. However, at the moment there isn’t the political will within government to delegate authority to the regions. As Chairman of APPSI, I have to try to break through these barriers to find more promising alternatives without creating conflict between central government and the governors, or between the provinces and districts.”

Broad boundaries: Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelago with more than 17,000 islands that stretch over 3,000 miles from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific

The ability of the provincial governors to act as the main link between central government and the kabupatens is extremely important says Syarifuddin Lubis, Executive Director of the Association of Indonesian Kabupatens (APKASI). “It’s true that the governor acts as the bridge between the regional government and the central government,” he says, adding that autonomy has brought great dividends to the districts of Indonesia.

“A lot has happened since decentralisation. We have achieved great results. Every region has become more dynamic and has been able to find out what is best for itself. For example, there have been measures to alleviate poverty in the kabupaten of Gianyar in Bali. They have managed to establish a partnership between society and businesses. Over £38,000 has been collected to provide credits for groups within society to improve their small-scale businesses. These funds are additional to those provided by the government.”

H. Syaukani
Chairman of APKASI and Bupati of Kutai Kartanegara
‘We have the potential and now we are building the infrastructure’

But everyone agrees that more reforms are necessary. At a recent national meeting of APKASI, H. Syaukani, Chairman of the Association and Bupati of Kutai Kartanegara, supported a gradual revision of the system of local autonomy. But he argued that the changes would need to strengthen the regional governments’ efforts to implement regional autonomy. Mr Syaukani also argues that developments in the district of Kutai Kartanegara show the benefit of autonomous rule. “Previously, when it was still centralised, all the revenue and income from our natural resources were taken up to the central government. We considered this to be unfair.”

Decentralisation is a major part of the process of reform and transformation

Now the income is split. The largest proportion still goes to the central government but between one fifth and one third (depending on the particular resource) is split between the kabupaten where it was produced and the neighbouring kabupatens in the province.

Mr Syaukani adds: “We have the potential and now we are building the infrastructure to support tourism, including airports, bridges and roads. With increasing autonomy, it is expected that the regions will be able to build and develop themselves.”