Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Regional autonomy, including special autonomy in the conflict-ridden provinces of Aceh and Papua, has made little headway in the years since its introduction, not only due to the government's apparent reluctance to implement the law, but also local leadership problems.

Five years after its introduction in January 2000, autonomy – which was initially granted to redeem the central government's sins, particularly during the New Order era – is yet to make any significant improvements to public services, social welfare or regions' competitiveness, as stipulated in the newly amended 1945 Constitution and the regional autonomy law.

Of course, it is fantastic progress that the nation is entering a new era, a condition far different from that of the New Order era, with its corrupt, centralistic government under Soeharto.

In the current set up, regional autonomy rests on regencies and municipalities. Each regency and municipality annually receives a huge amount of money – General Allocation Funds (DAU) and Special Allocation Funds (DAK) – to deal with their "domestic" affairs, including developing their potential to improve annual revenue and to empower their own people.

But so far, autonomy is yet to yield significant changes to social welfare and democracy. Take an extreme instance: Riau is known for its rich natural resources, and has the highest annual per capita income in the country, but the province has not yet been able to provide free medical services for residents suffering from Malaria, or free education under the compulsory nine-year preliminary education program.

Malaria has infected the majority of people living in the province's swampy areas, especially in Indragiri Hilir, Indragiri Hulu and Kerinci regencies.

Besides having no scheme to protect the environment, which has not helped when floods submerge the province almost every year, Riau has failed to attract foreign investors, due to its corrupt bureaucracy and poor infrastructure.

Another extreme example is Alor in East Nusa Tenggara and Nabire in Papua, which were recently hit by strong earthquakes.

Regional autonomy did not quicken the disbursement of emergency aid to disaster victims in the two regencies. Many tremor victims have been suffering from malaria, malnutrition, diarrhea, and respiratory problems due to the absence of medical facilities. The central government's humanitarian aid arrived in Alor several days after the arrival of the Japanese government's aid relief in the regency.

Regional autonomy is no guarantee that regions are better prepared to handle natural disasters and local administrations will supply relief aid faster than under the centralistic administration.

Disaster victims in Nabire will likely face a similar fate, since hundreds of people injured in the tremor have not yet received the necessary medical aid, while thousands of those taking refuge in safe areas and staying in makeshift tents are yet to be supplied with enough food.

Nabire residents also faced such a condition in February, when the lives of seven people were claimed. Humanitarian aid from the central and provincial administrations reached the regency two months after the disaster, with transportation laid to blame.

According to the regional autonomy law, autonomy should improve public services, social welfare and regions' competitiveness.

No region has given top priority to the development of public health, transportation and education, three basic services, which comprise the very least the government could provide in return for taxpayers' money.

However, these three services have almost become luxuries in the regions, particularly in remote areas, where people still lack adequate health care, are poorly educated and find transportation costly. As WHO's 2004 annual report shows, Indonesia is ranked lowest in the human development index (HDI), for the poor condition of its education and health sectors.

Regional autonomy has faltered in the unreadiness of regional administrations, with many regional heads and councilors involved in power abuse. A number of governors, regents, mayors and legislators elected in the 1999 general election are still serving prison terms for their involvement in corruption.

The absence of legal certainty could also be seen both in gubernatorial and regional elections and in the unveiling by regional chiefs of annual progress reports.

In certain regions, gubernatorial and regental elections ran into trouble due to the excessive interference of political parties, and the heavy bearing of Jakarta's "final say". The gubernatorial elections in Lampung, Central Java and North Sumatra, and the regental ones in many regencies over the last two years, verged on farcical, due to the excessive interference of former president Megawati Soekarnoputri, who also chairs the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

Several regents and mayors in Riau, Central and West Java were dismissed by the former president for political rather than legal reasons.

The recently concluded review of the regional autonomy law failed to provide a more apt concept of regional autonomy because, besides focusing more on direct regional leadership elections, Law No. 32/2004 regulates not regional autonomy but power-sharing between Jakarta and the regions.

Under Law No. 32/2004, the central government does not only deal with foreign policy, defense, courts, religious and monetary affairs as stipulated in Law No. 25/1999 on regional administration, it has also assumed the authority to plan development, and control and implement general policies in all sectors.

Jakarta has also re-centralized the recruitment of civil servants and the promotion of local echelon officials and reinstated the government's hierarchy, with the President in the top position and village heads ranked lowest.

As during the New Order era, regents and mayors are obliged to uphold the accountability of their administrations, not only to regental or municipal legislatures, but also to governors, while governors are required to maintain the accountability of their administrations, not only to provincial legislatures but also to the President through the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The law was strongly opposed by regents, mayors and their respective associations. Neither did it win the positive response of Jakarta amid the rampant power abuse of regional heads and local politicians.

They have also expressed their skepticism toward Susilo and his new government for his failure to propose changes to the autonomy drive.

The skepticism of regions and analysts emerged when Susilo failed to include an autonomy portfolio in his Cabinet lineup and, instead, appointed M. Ma'ruf, a retired Army lieutenant general, as Minister of Home Affairs overseeing the Directorate General of Public Administration and Regional Autonomy. Public administration expert Ryaas Rasyid has questioned the Army's monopoly in the home affairs ministry, saying the ministry was in urgent need of a professional minister, instead of a retired general, to deal with regional autonomy and to help speed up the development of true democracy in the regions.