Decentralization of Forest Administration in Indonesia, Implications ...

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Origins and Scope of Indonesia’s Decentralization Laws
affairs on behalf of the central government.” Under these arrangements, the Bupati
had little accountability to the DPRD, and the DPRD had only limited ability to act
independently.
By contrast, Law 22/1999 separates the DPRD from the regional executive
(Governor, Bupati, or Mayor) providing that the DPRD will “have equal position and
shall become a partner of [the executive branch of] the Regional Government” (Art.
16). By detaching the legislative and executive branches of regional government,
the DPRD has attained more of a controlling function and, depending on the level of
government, is now able to check the authority of the Governor, Bupati, or Mayor. As
a full partner with the executive, the DPRD can also formulate regional government
regulations, amend legislation, stipulate the budget, and supervise the implementation
of district government policies and laws.
Law 22/1999 specifies that the DPRD will have the power to elect the Head of
the Region at each level (Art. 18). The new law also gives the DPRD the power to
ask for the Governor, Bupati, and Mayor to account for his/her policies and activities.
If the executive’s actions are considered unacceptable on two occasions, the DPRD
can dismiss him/her from office, although they must obtain the approval of the
President to do so (Art. 50). To support this, the DPRD can also request information
and conduct its own investigations, and DPRD members are legally protected from
being prosecuted for expressing their opinions.
Significantly, Law 22/1999 also stipulates that the central government will
retain considerable powers in some areas. Briefly, these include the following:
• Without seeking the approval of the DPRD, the President can dismiss the Head
of Region – i.e. a Governor, Bupati, or Mayor – who commits ‘a criminal act’ or
who is “suspected of conducting a coup d’etat and/or for actions that can divide
the Unitary State” (Art. 52). The law fails to specify what is meant by this article,
“leaving it open to wide interpretation and the potential for politically motivated
abuse” (Erawan 1999).
• Although the regional governments may obtain international loans for “funding
their governance activities”, they are only permitted to do so with the approval of
the central government (Art. 81).
• The head of an autonomous region must inform the central government regarding
local regulations and official decisions within 15 days. The central government
retains the power to cancel regulations enacted by the region as well as decisions
of the head of region that are deemed “contradictory to public interests or higher
regulations and/or other regulations”(Art. 114).
• In the course of gubernatorial elections, the regional autonomy law requires that
the legislature consult the President over potential candidates (Art. 38). To a
significant degree, this provision reinforces the dual role of regional heads that
existed under the New Order regime – that is, as head of an autonomous region
and as representative of the central government. Some observers have argued that
this dual role created an element of ambivalence which became “the source of and
justification for central political involvement in regional political and governmental
affairs” (Erawan 1999).