If during the initial implementation of direct elections, money still served as one of the most influential factors in gaining votes, good governance and economic performance have of late become the most determinant factor as voters become more reasonable and intelligent.

 In several second-level regions (regencies and cities), where regional autonomy is anchored, regents or mayors, who were re-elected with more than 90 percent of the vote, shared the same hallmarks: They are leaders well known for their honesty, good governance and good communication with the people through a participatory process in planning and implementing development programs.

Take for example Joko Widodo, the mayor of Surakarta in Central Java, who was re-elected in May by almost 91 percent of voters; Herman Deru, the regent of East Ogan Komering Ulu in South Sumatra by 95 percent and Herman Soetrisno, the regent of Banjar in West Java, by 92 percent. This list could expand if simple majority wins were included.

 True, the number of regional chiefs with such strong legitimacy is still rather negligible, compared to the estimated 500 second-level regions throughout the country. But they could still serve as the catalyst.

  These leaders are quite popular not because of their generosity with money during the election. They are loved by the people because of their integrity and unusually great patience in nurturing genuine communication with the people and enhancing people’s participation in planning and implementing development programs. This process isn’t easy, given the widely different ability of the various groups of people to articulate their aspirations or needs.

Many economists call the process bottom-up planning. But whatever the jargon is, this participatory process enables them to gain a full understanding of the priorities or the needs of the various segments of the people.                  

 Yet more importantly is that as their popularity increases, their political communication with the local legislative councils also become more effective, thereby enabling them to arrange budget appropriations for the programs decided through the participatory process.   

  The popularly elected leaders also share another common record: The local economy performed well under their administration. This is the result of their full understanding of the role of businesses (investment), as can be seen in their pro-business policies and investor-friendly regional bylaws.

 This is simply rational because it is private investment that creates jobs, which in turn generates purchasing power to spur consumer demand for various goods and services from which local administrations can raise levies.

  But the emergence of good regional leaders isn’t the only fruit of the decentralization process. There are many other positive developments resulting from the decentralization and direct elections of regional chiefs, which all boil down to good governance.        

Fifteen districts and municipalities have passed local regulations (bylaws) on transparency and participation that spell out citizens’ rights to obtain information and participate in the development of their regions.

Many more regency administrations have introduced one-stop licensing centers for businesses and on-line administrations for particular public services.

We are confident this virtuous development will continue to expand to more regencies and cities.

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