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Decentralization in Indonesia Shifts Power to Local Leaders
FrontLines - May 2009
Each morning, residents of
Kebumen Regency in Indonesia’s
Central Java Province tune their
radios to “Good Morning Regent,”
a call-in show where ordinary citizens
can ask questions of their
local government leaders.
Pak Rosyid, headmaster of a
local high school says of the
show: “It is a positive step by our
government, since it can respond
to citizens’ needs directly. Now
we know that the local government
is really working for us.”
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Ikhsan Yasin Limpo, the regent
of Gowa in Southern Sulawesi,
attended a USAID tour of U.S.
local governments and then
conducted a survey of views on
education in Gowa.
|
The show is part of the legacy
of Rustriningsih, who uses only
one name and who became
Kebumen’s first directly-elected
regent in 2005. She said she
believed that to govern effectively,
she needed to hear the
problems and concerns of
Kebumen residents.
It is also one outgrowth of the
decentralization of power which
began in 2001, just three years
after the fall of Soeharto and the
introduction of democratic politics.
In a very brief period, hundreds
of subnational governments
were vested with new responsibilities
for local public services,
about 30 percent of the national
budget was devolved, and roughly
2.6 million central government
employees became employees of
subnational governments.
Not surprisingly, in a country
with 250 million people, there
were problems such as inconsistent
policies, uncertainty about intergovernmental
roles and responsibilities,
bureaucratic foot dragging,
and weak district capacity.
Since 2001, USAID has
worked alongside Rustriningsih
and other governors, mayors,
councilors, and civil society leaders in 100 jurisdictions to
meet some of these challenges.
USAID helped local officials
to embrace consultative and transparent
decision-making. Citizen
report cards, citizen charters, and
electronic customer service centers
improve public services.
“Decentralization is clearly a
driving force in Indonesia,” said
USAID Democracy Officer Kate
Somvongsiri.
Rustriningsih took unprecedented
measures to repair public
schools and provide other public
services. She was featured in a
2003 New York Times article about
her brand of clean politics. Last
year, the citizens of Central Java
elected her their vice governor.
In South Sulawesi, Gowa
Regent Ikhsan Yasin Limpo held
a public survey of citizen views on education services, shortly
after returning from a USAIDfunded
study tour of U.S. local
governments.
The survey led local officials to
address deficiencies. “People
lacked the necessary income to
pay for their children’s education
due to unofficial fees, education
not having been treated as a priority
by government,” said Ikhsan.
|
Voters line up to cast their votes in an Aceh local election in
December 2006.
|
A 2008 public opinion survey
funded by USAID found that
trust in local government officials
grew from 42 percent in
2006 to 55 percent in 2008; and
56 percent had more confidence
in their local government than in
their national government.
Today, all 2,300 local and provincial
officials are directly
elected. This has invigorated local
politics with successful local leaders
running for higher offices.
There is debate over the wisdom
of decentralizing power to
492 districts. Since 2001, the
number of new district and provincial
governments has grown
by almost half, increasing the
number of local governments,
many with weak capacity
and limited resources.
Decentralization has not solved
all of Indonesia’s corruption
problems, with investigations
ongoing in as many as a quarter of
Indonesia’s local governments.
★
FrontLines is published
by the Bureau for Legislative and Public Affairs
U.S. Agency for International Development
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Material should be submitted
by mail to Editor, FrontLines, USAID,
RRB, Suite 6.10, Washington, DC 20523-6100;
by FAX to 202-216-3035; or by e-mail to frontlines@usaid.gov
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