Armando Siahaan, Jakarta – With the Home Affairs Ministry proposing 11 new provinces and dozens of districts and municipalities by 2025, the House of Representatives and the government have agreed not to grant permanent status to new jurisdictions until they complete a trial phase that could last five years.

Ganjar Pranowo, deputy chairman of House Commission II, which oversees home affairs, said on Monday that an agreement had been worked out to compel the proposed jurisdictions to earn their wings during the trial.

The accord follows a moratorium on the creation of new administrative regions that has been in effect since February 2009, following the death of then North Sumatra Legislative Council (DPRD) Speaker Abdul Azis Angkat at the hands of a mob demanding the creation of a new province.

In July, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono criticized the adding of new jurisdictions, arguing that 80 percent of them had failed.

At the time, the president said the government had a "grand design" for how to handle demands for new regions, adding that an evaluation had been completed on the performance of newly created administrative areas.

The House's agreement to a trial period is part of the reform the president was seeking.

Previously, a new administrative area was automatically given permanent status upon approval by the House and the government. But with the new scheme, both parties agreed the proposed regions should go through a preparation phase.

Ganjar said the trial period, ideally five years, would allow the government to assess whether the new jurisdiction would be a positive development or a drain on the state's resources.