Court works on request for local autonomy

Abdul Khalik ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Wed, 04/30/2008 1:10 PM  |  City

The Constitutional Court started reviewing Jakarta's administrative law and the law on regional autonomy Tuesday to allow direct mayoral and parliamentary elections at the municipality level.

The court heard a judicial review request from Biem Benyamin, a member of the Regional Representatives Council (DPD) from Jakarta, who said several articles in both laws violated the 1945 Constitution.

"Municipalities in Jakarta should have autonomy just like other regencies and cities across the country. It should also allow direct elections to select mayors and councillors," Biem told reporters after the hearing.

Biem said an article in the law on regional autonomy stating "Jakarta as the country's capital has autonomy status, but no autonomy status within the capital" was in violation of the Constitution.

The Constitution stipulates governments in the provinces, regencies and cities are to take care of their own administrative matters according to autonomy principles. It also says provinces, through cities, should have a regional parliament whose members are elected through a general election.

Biem said he filed for a review because both laws prohibited him and other Jakarta citizens from exercising their constitutional right to become mayor through election.

The court advised Biem to strengthen his case before adjourning the hearing and gave him 14 days to complete the requirements. In the second hearing the court will hear witnesses and in the third it will make its ruling.

In line with the law, as of 2005, all provinces, municipalities and regencies across the country held direct elections for their administration heads.

Jakarta, which has five municipalities and one regency, held its first direct election last year.

Many experts have said last year's administration law on Jakarta hampered decentralization by giving the governor power to appoint mayors, regents and heads of districts and subdistricts.

They have been calling for the decentralization of power in the capital, saying the move would boost people's participation in the decision making process and allow the public to exert more effective control on officials.

A decentralized Jakarta would also be easier to manage and would improve public services here, they said.

Election law expert and former executive director of the Center for Electoral Reform, Smita Notosusanto, said Jakarta was too big to be managed by the provincial administration only.

Smita said studies showed decentralization could improve government services in many areas, especially in education and health.

A recent survey conducted by the World Bank and Yogyakarta-based Gadjah Mada University across 32 cities and regencies showed years after the introduction of regional autonomy, the majority of people saw improvements in health, education and administrative services.

The survey found 60 percent of respondents identified improvements in public health, while 60 percent of households polled felt there was an improvement in the condition of schools, quality of teaching and academic performance.

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