Jakarta – President Megawati Soekarnoputri on Friday insisted that the recently exercised regional autonomy was not a blank check for provinces to do as they please.

In her address at the opening ceremony of a dialog between the central government and the provinces here at the State Palace, the president reserved the right, based on the Autonomy Law, to withdraw the powers handed to a region if the local administration proved to be unqualified in exercising these privileges.

"I am expressing this plea so we can all remain aware of our attitude which, consciously or not, has resulted in unnecessary irritants," she said.

"I realize that this all stems from the tremendous spirit in establishing autonomy, however we must remember that autonomy was established for the sake of ensuring national unity [not division]." She urged the audience, which comprised of governors, regents and mayors from across the country, to tone down their rhetoric and review demands which were unrealistic.