Page 126 - kpi20440

KPI Congress 20th
126
2018
Thai Democracy on the Move

In Indonesia, decentralisation has become a serious concern (Rasyid 2002 & 2003;

Pramusinto, 2005), especially after the fall of Soeharto in 1998. In 1999, two radical laws (Law
No. 22 of 1999 and Law No. 25 of 1999) on local government and fiscal balance were issued to

replace the existing Law No. 5 of 1974 (Bell 2001). The two laws have changed the governance
structure both vertically between the central government and the regency/city government and

provincial government, as well as horizontally between the executive and legislative branches.
The central government has devolved most government affairs to local governments, which

are emphasized in regency and city governments. In 2004, the revision of the new laws was
conducted due to changes related to direct election adopted for the presidential election.

In general, the substance of the new law is similar to the previous laws except for the model
of election for regency/city and provincial government leaders. In 2014, the government revised

the law by issuing Law No. 23 of 2014. The new Law No. 23 of 2014 provides a more detailed
explanation regarding the distribution of functions between the central government and the

provincial government and regency/city governments. Some functions that are considered
ineffective in the regency/city are drawn to the province.

This paper will focus on the changes that occur as a consequence of decentralisation

policies. How far has the change gone towards improving democracy at the local level and
how have the problems and challenges faced by the government over the past 20 years?

If we compare, in the last decade, the development of democracy in Indonesia is far above
other ASEAN countries. To discuss in more detail, this paper will be divided into several

sections. After the introduction, the following section will discuss aspects of decentralisation.
After that, the discussion will be directed to the general description of Indonesia. The next

section will discuss changes concerning the system of election of regional leaders, changes in
the structure of government in the region, and the system of financial sharing between the

central government and regional governments.

เอกสารประกอบการประชุมกลุ่มย่อยที่ 3 Why Decentralisation?

Since 1980s, decentralisation has become a strategy of development in many

countries (Crook & Manor 1998, Litvack et al. 1998). The wave of decentralisation in developing
countries has produced opportunities for local governments to respond to the needs of their