Despite the results of various academic and government studies that have shown that the expansion of new cities, regencies and provinces very often has an adverse impact on local economies and politics, the House of Representatives (DPR) decided on Friday to deliberate the creation of several new autonomous regions. The plan was drawn up in apparent secrecy.

With legislative elections only six months away, the House decided to assign Commission II, which oversees home affairs and regional autonomy, to discuss the establishment of 65 new autonomous regions, including eight new provinces mainly in North Sumatra, Papua and Kalimantan.

The government had previously announced a moratorium in 2009 following the death of North Sumatra Provincial Legislative Council speaker Aziz Angkat during a violent demonstration by the supporters of the establishment of Tapanuli province in North Sumatra.

The moratorium ended in November 2011 and since then 12 new regions have emerged. Earlier this year seven new regencies were formed.

'€œAmong the factors, aside from the economic and cultural considerations, behind proposing these new autonomous regions are the strengthening of the unitary state of the Republic of Indonesia within its borders and the need to meet local aspirations,'€ House speaker Marzuki Alie said during the House plenary session on Friday.

During Friday'€™s session the House endorsed 65 bills on the creation of eight provinces, and 57 regencies to be deliberated by Commission II. Once they are endorsed the bills will automatically become law within 30 days without the need for approval from the government.

'€œThis new bills will be debated in the next House sessions,'€ said Marzuki.

Separately, Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi, who will represent the government in the deliberation sessions, said he still could not decide on the government'€™s stance on the matter as there had been no instructions from the President concerning the creation of new regional governments.

The minister said the President would gather related ministries to discuss the matter before giving any formal instructions. '€œI do not want to speculate as it is a politically sensitive issue,'€ Gamawan said.

Home Ministry data shows that 217 new autonomous regions were formed between 1999 and 2013, including eight provinces, 175 regencies and 34 cities.

A report by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) revealed that more than 80 percent of new autonomous regions failed to improve the welfare of their people and eventually became a burden on the state budget.

The plan to set up new provinces in Papua has often been seen as an effort by the central government to divide Papuans rather than having them present a united front against the central government.

Yusak Reba, an activist at the Institute for Civil Strengthening in Papua, hoped that decentralization would lead to an improvement in the welfare of indigenous Papuans and not have the opposite effect of marginalizing them.

'€œAfter decentralization, Papuans are still poor and don'€™t even have proper housing, healthcare or education. It is as if decentralization only profits the few,'€ Yusak said.

Tahan Manahan Panggabean, who has campaigned to make Tapanuli a province since the 1980s said the House approval was a positive move. (asw)

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