Recently, the Red-and-White Coalition led by Prabowo Subianto has been making trouble again. They are trying to re-enact the election of local leaders through city/district councils instead of by direct election. Their intention is loud and clear. Their combined representatives dominate the councils, so they have the biggest chance of retaining the regional top jobs all over Indonesia. The coalition’s hidden motive is to exact revenge for losing the presidential election. However, their move, which jeopardizes Indonesia’s nascent democracy, must be stopped.
The main reason is that with power in the hands of councilors, prior to local elections, leadership candidates will meekly focus their efforts to appeal to the councilors instead of the people. This is susceptible to bribery. And after the election, the new leader will serve and please the powerful councilors rather than the powerless people.
The interests of councilors are very different from the interests of the people. The former pursues the enjoyment of power while in contrast the latter wants the best public service. And the facts show that the much-admired leaders such as Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, Ridwan Kamil, Tri Rismaharini, Nurdin Abdullah are the ones who deliver results and are directly elected by all the people.
Due to the recent maelstrom of debate, the substantial matter of regional autonomy needs be given priority. The debate should not be whether a leader is selected through direct election or not, but it must be at what level regional autonomy applies.
Ryaas Rasyid, former regional autonomy minister, once cited the overlapping of authority among governor and regents in one province. In fact, the governor has no “real” authority in the province, since the regents have already ruled on the regencies in the province. He said it was a waste that a governor had technical offices such as public works, health etc., which were matters that were already managed by regencies. So it would be better if the real debate on local government revision, including elections, was this overlap. There are at least two options available, namely autonomy at provincial level or at regency level.
If regional autonomy lies at regency level, then the services to people are wholly provided by the local government of the regency. The governor must not have technical offices and not be elected by people but be appointed by central government. The real function of a governor would be to represent central government in the province.
If regional autonomy is handed to the provincial level, then the power goes to the governor. The governor will be elected by the people and be held responsible for providing public services. The regents will be appointed by the governor and serve as the area managers to implement the governor’s policy. Some have rejected this structure because it resembles federalism which is stigmatized in Indonesian politics.
This is the crucial matter that should be debated and solved. It definitely concerns the effectiveness and efficiency of local government. And to join the fray, I propose that regional autonomy should stop at the provincial level.
Jakarta is the best example of autonomy at the provincial level. The governor is directly elected by the people, while all mayors are appointed by the governor. And Jakarta is a big province in terms of population and so far this system has worked.
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