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Yogyakarta to restore archaic administrative naming practice
The Yogyakarta administration has issued a new regulation that would bring back a centuries-old administrative naming convention once used at the regency, city, district and subdistrict levels in the days of the special region’s ancient monarchy
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span>The Yogyakarta administration has issued a new regulation that would bring back a centuries-old administrative naming convention once used at the regency, city, district and subdistrict levels in the days of the special region’s ancient monarchy.
Yogyakarta Governor Hamengkubuwono, who recently issued Gubernatorial Decree No. 25/2019 on administrative affairs at the regency, city and subdistrict levels, plans to restore the old naming convention at the end of the year or by early 2020.
“At the city level, districts will now be called kemantren. At the regency level, they will be called kapanewon,” administration assistant Beny Suharsono told the press on Monday.
He said that, in accordance with the newly issued decree, district heads at the city level would be addressed as mantri pamong praja and their secretaries as mantri anom. At the regency level, district heads would be referred to as panewu and their secretaries as panewu anom.
The nomenclature for subdistricts at the city level was left unchanged, but villages at the regency level are to be called kalurahan, village heads lurah and village secretaries carik.
The decree also entails the renaming of the cultural agency and the agrarian and spatial planning agency at the city level as Kundha Kebudayaan and Kundha Niti Mandala Sarta Tata Sasana respectively.
“The change is meant to synchronize the agencies with special administrative affairs,” Beny said, adding that the naming convention intended to help restore the monarchy’s glory.
Earlier this year, Hamengkubuwono issued Gubernatorial Decree No. 131/2018 on special administrative affairs.
According to Law No. 13/2012 on the Special Region of Yogyakarta, the special authority encompasses the appointment of administration officials, assignments from the governor and their deputy, the region’s administrative institutions, culture, land and spatial planning.
Since its official issuance, the decree has been blamed for the rise of agrarian conflicts because — according to the decree — land plots that lack official ownership are rendered legal properties of the Yogyakarta Palace.
Beny said four regencies and one city in the special region would issue regulations to comply with the gubernatorial decree. Kulon Progo regency planned to fully implement the naming convention by the end of the year, he added.
Bayu Dardias Kurniadi, an expert in special affairs from Gadjah Mada University’s School of Social and Political Sciences, said the law on special authority only concerned the administration’s domain at the provincial level and was not applicable to institutions at the regency, city, district and subdistrict levels.
“The governor exercises a level of authority that exceeds the law, yet he will face no sanctions,” Bayu said, adding that the decree was the governor’s attempt to tighten his grip on regents, mayors and other administration officials in the special region.
