Year-ender: POLEMICS ON YOGYAKARTA'S SPECIAL STATUS DRAGS ON By Fardah

    Jakarta, Dec 15, 2010 (ANTARA) - Not long after being  hit by Mount Merapi's eruption,  Yogyakarta, a former sultanate given special region status since the country's independence  in 1945, is currently undergoing another ordeal but this time socio-political in nature.

           A government-proposed Bill on the Special Status of Yogyakarta has caused Yogyakarta's people to react strongly against the government's intention in the Bill  to revoke  the rights of Yogyakarta's Sultan to be automatically appointed as the province's governor.      

       The political problem became tension-filled following President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's sremark that the special status of a region must not contradict the values of democracy, whereby leaders should be directly elected by the people.

           "There should not be a monarchy system which contradicts our Constitution or democratic values," the president said last November 2010.

             The President's statement was  followed by a comment by Sultan Hamengkubuwono X in which he said he was ready to resign from the Yogyakarta governorship.  He hinted that his being in the governorship  of the province might have been seen as an obstacle to include the province in the direct election systems applied nationally.

              In support to their Sultan, thousands of people last Monday (Dec 13) rallied in front of the Yogyakarta  assembly building to reject the central government's Bill that would replace  the automatic appointment system with a direct gubernatorial election.

            Many Yogyakarta people who felt offended by the "monarchy" statement,  even called for a referendum that might result in the r separation of the former sultanate from the unitary state of the Republic of Indonesia.

             The legislative assembly of the Yogyakarta special region also on Monday (Dec 13) decided to support the system that automatically appoints the chief of the Yogyakarta traditional sultanate as the governor of the special region.

           Six political party factions agreed to maintain the current system of appointment for the posts of  governor and vice governor of Yogyakarta , namely the Indonesian Democratic Party - Struggle (PDIP), the National Mandate Party (PAN), the National Awakening Party (PKB), the Golkar Party, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and the PNPI Raya factions.

              They urged the government and the House of Representatives (DPR) to immediately issue a law on the status of Yogyakarta   with due account being taken of the historical, sociological and  juridical aspects of the region's special status.       
     Amid the ongoing polemics,  Yogyakarta Governor Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X  asked his people to cool down about the region's special status and governorship. 
       "After the  polemics are wound down, people can focus again on building Yogyakarta, and return to their daily activities as the   regional legislative council (DPRD) has already announced its stance on the issue," he said in Yogyakarta, Monday (Dec 13)
        He said  as governor and Sultan, he and the Paku Alam XI  would  not leave the people of Yogyakarta in the lurch and  remain close to them.

              "I  thank  the people for their support regarding the  bill on the special status of Yogyakarta. I also thank and highly appreciate the regional legislative council for its attitude to clearly support  Yogyakarta's special status in accordance with the aspirations of the community," he said.

            Earlier, Gusti Bendoro Pangeran Haryo Prabukusumo, younger brother of Yogyakarta Governor  Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono X ,  officially resigned as chairman of the Democratic Party's Yogyakarta chapter as well as from  his membership in the ruling party.

             In announcing his decision recently, Haryo said he had taken the step because there was a difference of view between him and the Democratic Party's central executive board about the bill on Yogyakarta region's special status.

            He said his political stance on the matter was very clear, namely that the post of Yogyakarta governor should be filled by appointment and not by an election. This was in accordance with the wish of his  father, Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX, Sri Paduka Paku Alam VIII and first Indonesian President Soekarno.

            By the September 5, 1945  Declaration, Haryo said, his father and Sri Paduka Paku Alam VIII sacrificed their own dignity as sovereign rulers by being prepared to be downgraded to the positions  of governor and vice governor of Yogyakarta, he said.

              "As governor and vice governor their powers became limited as they also had to abide by the 1945 Constitution, presidential decrees and other legislation. They sacrificed their inherited powers, and is it fair that they are now required to make more sacrifices?", Haryo said.

             He said in the September 5, 1945  declaration it was clearly stated the two ex-rulers would remain the highest authorities in Yogyakarta, and if this was accepted by the government, the problem  was solved, but if this clause  was ignored, the essence of the declaration would be  violated.

             According to Haryo, the government's offer to make Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX and Sri Paduka Pakualam IX respected figures above the governor and vice governor was "just a ruse that would turn them into mere figureheads." The government's concept would separate them from their people.

            Hailing Prabukusumo's resignation, Sultan Hamengkubuwono X said his younger brother's  decision reflected the integrity of his sultanate's family and the unity of the Yogyakarta Sultanate family in its struggle to defend Yogyakarta's status as a special region.

             "The unity will be used to preserve what our father, the late Sultan Hamengku Buwono IX, has struggled for. GBPH Prabukusumo's stance automatically confirms that the Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat Sultanate family has one voice about  the status of Yogyakarta,"  the current Sultan stated
       Supporting the struggle for Indonesian independence, the late Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX in 1940s declared the Yogyakarta sultanate to be part of the republic of Indonesia.

          President Sukarno, Indonesia's first president,  awarded Yogyakarta the administrative status of special region equivalent to a province, including the sultan's privilege to be the region's governor. President Suharto, the nation's second president, later chose  Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono IX as his vice president.

           Commenting on the resignation of the Democratic Party's Yogyakarta chapter chairman,  Yunarto Wijaya, a political observer, said the ruling Democrat Party has been degraded and lost the trust of the people of Yogyakarta.

            It would not be easy for the party of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to win back the trust of the people of Yogyakarta, moreover "now that the younger brother of the Sultan of Yogyakarta, Prabukusumo, has quit the party, he said.

             The general chairman of the Democrat Party, Anas Urbaningrum, regretted Prabukusumo's decision to resign as chief of the party's Yogyakarta chapter and member of the party. He however believed that the party would remain solid in Yogyakarta. "There is no reason to be pessimistic," he said.

                He said the discussion of the new draft bill on the status of Yogyakarta special region was actually just starting and so no decision has been made. In view of that Prabukusumo should not have immediately resigned, he added.

             The party named Angelina Sondakh as the acting chairman of the Yogyakarta regional executive board until the regional conference on December 22, 2010.

               Despite the political tension, on December 3, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono bestowed a National Food Resilience Award on  Yogyakarta Governor  Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X at the State Palace in Jakarta. The award was received personally by Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X.

             Yogyakarta was awarded for its achievement in increasing its  rice, crops, fish and poultry production.  The special province was also considered successful in securing sufficient food stocks through a food barn program, and in carrying out subsidized-cooking oil distribution.

             A day earlier, on December 2, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono gave a press conference to explain the bill on Yogyakarta's status as a special region.

               Yudhoyono said he as the head of state believed that Sri Sultan Hamengkuwuono X was still the best person to fill the position of governor of the special region of Yogyakarta.

              "Please take note that from the practical political viewpoint, Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X remains the best person to hold the position of governor of the Yogyakarta Special Region (DIY). I am saying this in my capacity  as the head of state/government in this republic," the President said at the State palace.   
          The head of state also said  the people of Yogyakarta were free to express their aspirations related to the bill to the Home Affairs Ministry, the governmental body responsible for preparing the drafting of the bill prior to its submission to the House of Representatives.

                  On Tuesday (Dec 14), Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi has said the central government maintains its offer of gubernatorial direct election concept for Yogyakarta, although the Yogyakarta Regional Legislative Council (DPRD) has decided to maintain the automatic appointment of the Sultan to become governor.

              "We stick to our concept that Yogyakarta's governor must be democratically elected, however the Sultan still maintains his special rights," Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi said in Padang.

              If the Sultan wants to join the democratic election, he should follow the procedures, the minister said, referring to the Bill on Yogyakarta Special Status, which has become a controversy lately because the people of Yogyakarta insist on the rights of their Sultan to claim the gubernatorial position.

         Although gubernatorial elections would be held democratically, the sultan would  be given a privilege if he wanted to join the direct election, namely no other Yogyakarta royal family member would be allowed to nominate himself in the election, the minister explained.

             "So, the Sultan will have a bigger chance to win," Fauzi said.

                 But  other candidates must be nominated by political parties, not by individuals, he said.  "In other regions, a candidate can be nominated by an individual, but for Yogyakarta especially, candidates must be nominated by political parties," he said. 
           Minister Gamawan Fauzi believed that the automatic appointment of Yogyakarta's Sultan to become a governor would create a problem if the Sultan is too old or too young.  The minister said that the Law No.12/2007 also ruled a number of criteria regarding education, age and some other things for Yogyakarta's Sultan.

                Fauzi also argued that if the Sultan maintains his claim to the gubernatorial position, the Yogyakarta people would lose a chance to become a governor of Yogyakarta.

             "In fact the Yogya people also have a right to become governor," the home affairs minister said.

              Minister Gamawan Fauzi said the Sultan of Yogyakarta will retain  his special rights, including regarding land, spatial and cultural affairs, even if he is not elected as the region's governor.

             "The Sultan of Yogya remains the highest symbol, so he keeps the special rights even if he does not happen to be the governor," Minister Gamawan Fauzi said here Tuesday.

              In addition to the opposition by Yogyakarta's people and legislators, several political party factions in the House of Representatives have also expressed their views against the Bill.

              Secretary of the Golkar Party Faction in the House of Representatives (DPR) Ade Komaruddin said  his party was for maintaining the status quo in Yogyakarta, namely   the automatic appointment of the Sultan as the special region's  governor.

             "The Golkar faction is ready to give a dissenting opinion regarding Yugyakarta's special status and to go along with  the aspiration of the Yogyakarta people and regional legislative council," Ade said at the Parliament building in Jakarta, Tuesday (Dec 14).

               "The Golkar faction is firm, the Yogyakarta governor should be  appointed in line with the 1945 Constitution,  and the undeniable historical facts. That's the basis of the Golkar faction's stand," he said.

              On the action of Yogyakarta people in raising the national flag half-mast , Ade Komaruddin said it reflected the Yogyakarta people's distrust of the central government.

             "The Yogyakarta people have so far remained silent . The half-mast flags indicate their  distrust of the central government," he said.

               A similar opinion was voiced by an associate chairperson of the Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDIP), Puan Maharani.  Puan said her party wanted the automatic appointment of the Yogyakarta Sultan as governor, not through a direct election.

            "PDIP shares the view of the Yogyakarta people and DPRD (Regional Legislative Council), that the Sultan should be  appointed to the governorship," she said.

             Meanwhile, chairman of the Democratic Party Faction (FPD) in Parliament Jafar Hafsah said his faction would not automatically accept the government's concept.

             "So far, we are still monitoring  developments but this does not mean that FPD agrees with the government's concept," he said.

              According to Law and Human Rights Minister Patrailis Akbar,  the Bill on Yogyakarta's Special Status has been finalized and would  be presented to the House of Representatives soon after the President has signed its introductory letter, a minister said.

              A special feature of  Yogayakarta's special status according to the Bill, he said, was that Sultan Hamengkubuwono X would bear the title of "prime governor" automatically while the position of governor would be filled by someone elected by the regional legislative council.

              It seems that the central government would go ahead with the Bill, while the Yogyakarta people have insisted on the status quo of the Yogyakarta sultanate special status.

              And the final decision will have to wait for a deliberation of the House of Representative, which is to go into recess at year end.  
(T. F001/A/HAJM/18:43/a014)