Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The government and the House of Representatives have agreed to revise and simplify the 2004 law on regional administration, distributing the law's authority into three separate bills.
""With the law's revision, the government and the House will create laws on regional administration, subdistrict village administration and on local elections,"" Home Minister Mardiyanto said during a consultation meeting with the Regional Representatives Council's (DPD) Ad Hoc committee I on law and regional administration here Tuesday.
""With the help of a team of experts, the government is preparing three academic drafts expected to be completed soon.""
Mardiyanto said the three bills, which have been given top priority in the House's national legislation program, were expected to be approved by the end of this year.
Initially the government and the House decided to make minor revisions to the law on regional administration in line with a recent Constitutional Court verdict which allowed independent candidates to contest local elections.
However, eventually it was decided major revisions would be made to the law based on the rapid dynamism of regional administrations, including increasing demands for autonomy at the subdistrict and village levels and demands for a better local election system, the minister said.
""As we know, local elections have been included in the domain of general elections and organized by the General Elections Commission (KPU) as is mandated by Law No. 22/2007 on the KPU. We have also been faced with the complexity of village/subdistrict administrations with unique characteristics,"" Mardiyanto said.
Both the House and the government have agreed to formalize village administrations, with village heads and secretaries defined as paid public officials. The scheme is seen as the government's response to increasing demands from village heads and secretaries nationwide to formalize their job as an integral and lower part of the government.
During the consultation meeting, the minister also informed the ad hoc committee about the government's move to tighten the formation of new autonomous regions.
""This move aims at creating effective regional administrations and improving the social welfare of their people,"" he said.
Referring to the ongoing revision of Government Regulation No. 129/2000 on the formation and merging of autonomous regions, the minister said in the future the formation of new autonomous regions would be based on proposals lodged by village/subdistrict communities through provincial and regental legislatures.
He said the requirements for the establishment of new regions would also be extended from seven to 11 criteria, namely population, economic potential, regional potential, financial capacity, socio-culture, sociopolitical aspects, territorial size, defense, security, level of social welfare and the government's control of the public service.
