There appears to be a trend afoot in the regions -- disobeying national development policies they believe are not in their best interests.

But the disobedience is hampering national programs and economic development, politicians and officials said at a discussion on central and regional administration relations, organized by the Center for Information and Development Studies, on Thursday.

By pursuing their own agendas, the regions are unnecessarily duplicating programs and are wasting resources and money to devise and implement them, while producing no satisfactory results, they said.

Home Minister Mardiyanto acknowledged the regional autonomy law had prompted regions to ignore orders coming out of Jakarta, because the law did not institute a hierarchical line that obliged the regions to comply with the government.

"That's what has happened. We just hope the regions' elites can put aside their own narrow interests and join the national programs," he told the discussion participants.

The minister gave the example of several governors and regents rejecting the recent direct cash assistance program, launched by the central government to help low-income families cope with the impacts of higher fuel prices.

National Mandate Party (PAN) secretary-general Zulkifli Hasan said direct elections had resulted in the election of governors and regents from parties other than the President's or Vice President's, making disobedience part of the rivalry ahead of the 2009 general elections.

To make matters worse, he said, the regions often considered government policies to be unfair.

"For instance, the government has been seen as being unfair in managing the state budget," he said.

"Some 70 percent of the budget is used to pay foreign debts and civil servants' salaries. But that 70 percent was contributed by the regions."

Zulkifli suggested President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice President Jusuf Kalla seriously undertake to discuss policies with the elites in regions to avoid misunderstanding and rejection of policies.

Golkar deputy secretary-general Rully Chairul Azwar focused on the government's inconsistency in applying policies that led to violent clashes at the grass roots level.

He gave the example of the drawn-out conflict in North Maluku following the gubernatorial election there, which resulted in a stalemate for weeks.

Based on a Supreme Court decision, Mardiyanto endorsed the reelection of Thaib Armayn and Abdul Gani Kasuba as North Maluku governor and deputy governor. The pair was nominated by President Yudhoyono's Democratic Party.

Golkar, which nominated rival candidates Abdul Gafur and Abdurrahim Fabanyo in the election, has protested strongly against the government's decision. Gafur's supporters, who rejected the decision, staged rallies, clashing with police and Thaib supporters.

People's Consultative Assembly deputy chairman Aksa Mahmud suggested the government and regional administrations commit to more frequent coordination and communication to avoid the misunderstandings that can lead to disobedience.

"Any key policies must be discussed with regional administrations to allow successful implementation," he said.

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