The Indonesian Parliament recently passed two landmark legislation . On July 11, the Aceh Governance Act was passed, after over 5 months of debate following the agreement between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (Gerakan Aceh Merdeka, GAM) reached at Helsinki in August 2005. The agreement was brokered by the European Union and representatives from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). All credit to Interior Minister Muhammad Maaruf and his staff who tirelessly defended that the any provisions of the MOU with GAM must pass the litmus test of Indonesian sovereignty as provided in the Indonesian Constitution of 1945.
GAM had insisted, for example, that the Indonesian Defense Force (TNI), should exclusively deal with “external defense” and that only the Indonesian Police be assigned to internal security duties. This demand runs counter to article 30 of the Indonesian constitution which stipulates that all Indonesian citizens are obliged to participate in the “total defense and security” of the nation. Hence, the soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines of the TNI (and even civilians) have an important role to play in supporting police in internal security affairs.
The second bill, on Indonesian Citizenship, passed July 12 was hailed as a landmark in Indonesia’s legal history. All Indonesians, “irrespective of heritage of race, color, religion and country of birth” would be “guaranteed equal treatment under law”. The act provided assurance that Indonesian female spouses of foreign nationals, for example, retain their nationality and guaranteed fair and equal treatment. The Citizenship Act assured nationals of “foreign descent” (read: Indonesian of Chinese origin) that they would be protected from discriminative behavior.
Now comes the hard part: matching legal provisions with the realities on the ground. Or, more precisely, of getting realities on the ground match with the legal provisions enacted in both the Aceh Governance and the Citizenship laws.
Questions abound: Can the pro-republican Acehnese provide the political leadership and direction so that the majority of ex-GAM Acehnese who have returned to the fold feel that they would sincerely be accepted as citizens of the Indonesian republic? Will the republicans feel that they will also share benefits from the special economic programs provided by the Jakarta central government, the Aceh Recovery Agency and the multinational donor agency?
Passing legislation in parliament is an important legal step in supporting democracy and decentralized government. But acceptance and legitimacy of the two laws (or of any law for that matters) must be matched with the political, economic and realities on the ground. For the Aceh Governance Act, the real test is in providing equitable distribution of economic growth with special emphasis on employment. The more ex-GAM are integrated through employment schemes with republicans, the more the Governance Act will resound in the hearts and minds of all Acehnese. The hearts and minds programs must be supported by timely access to basic needs: water, housing, electricity, schools, health care, hospitals and employment. These are the realities that must be improved at the ground level to match the legal formulations
Likewise, the more that the disparity between rich and poor is significantly reduced, the more all Indonesian citizens will be united by their respective professions, skills and work. Rather than being divided by race, religion or primordial identity, the “Indonesian mosaic” will reflect the calls for national unity of the Citizenship Act.
All democratic nations profess to believe in the rule of law and the famous adage “equal justice under law.” But we all now that in all countries, that often some enjoy more justice than others because they “can afford the law.” For those who still have to struggle to make ends meet, legal provisions are beyond their ken. Our biggest challenge is to drastically improve the social-economic realities of decentralized government in Aceh and of citizenship for all Indonesians so that the soaring rhetoric of the law will be within their intellectual and material grasp. After all, any “rule of law” can have meaning only to those whose basic human needs have been adequately met.
I beg to differ:
basic human needs can only be adequately met if there is rule of law in a society.
Wah Pak, kalau masalah implementasi hukum di lapangan supaya bisa “legitimate” dan “accepted”, semua kembali ke pertanyaan awal kenapa UU itu dibuat.
Kalo gak semua orang merasa UU itu perlu, I suppose they just don’t have that will within them to embrace the legitimacy and acceptance issues. I’m not sure if it’s the only prob, but as a commoner myself, at least that’s what I feel about some of the laws we have.
Specially for the GAM issue, aku masih suka bertanya apakah orang2 (the republicans as you put it) sudah menerima pare ex GAM dengan segala kemewahan yang mereka dapat dari pemerintah setelah puluhan tahun memberontak?
Padahal “the republicans” ini yang sudah bertahan dengan Jakarta meski harus kehilangan hak2 asasinya.. Hmm, mungkin aku harus tanya supir bajaj Pak, hehehe….
seperti biasa, setiap kebijakan pemerintah pasti mengundang kontroversi. ada juga yang protes mengenai UU PA.
Ass. Pak Juwono
Sehat walafiat Insya4JJ. Saya dwi pak, mau membahas masalah GAM, ketahanan negara dan masih banyak lagi hal2 politik didalam maupun diluar negeri.
Ini membuat saya bisa belajar dari KESALAHAN yang telah/pernah terjadi. Membuat saya terdorong untuk lebih Nasionalisme dan peduli dgn sesama umat.
Saya bertemu bapak di kawinan resepsi teman saya di Halim waktu itu pak.bapak datang dgn anak bapak… setelah bapak salaman dengan pengantin bpk lgsg pulang yah pak.. padahal kami melihat sosok bpk yang kharismatik.
Insya4JJ bpk bisa menjadi pemimpin2 yang berwibawa dan tahu akan rakyatnya yg terus2an didera musibah dan cobaan lainnya. Untuk itu marilah kita membangun negara ini SATU PADU CINTA TANAH AIR INDONESIA… Amin… May ALLAH be with US CU pak…
wassalam -dwi-
The one who just rebelled against the integrity of our state must be given opportunity to return to the motherland, and the government has done good job in this section.
Indeed, Aceh must be given special authonomy so that it could recover its economy after decades of conflict with the central government.
But I urge the government not to hesitate to crush GAM and its political wing if they’re moving toward independence using the authonomy given by the government for its internal military build-up.
Regarding the second bill you have mentioned, it is a must since the nation was declared independence in 1945. It’s now up to the officers to imply this bill in the correct order.
Indonesia has various background of people and such legislation must be secured in order to keep the people living in eternal harmony, which will lead this Indonesia to prosperity, along with the up-rooting of the nationwide corruption
H.E. Mr.Sudarsono,
The Citizenhip bill passed in Yuly by your Parliament, certainly was a landmark in Indonesian’s legal history.
I agree 100% that the difficult part is matching the legal provisions with the realities on the ground.
Even in the Old Democratic country like the US, we still see whoever can afford the law, enjoy more justice than others. Judges in Indonesian courts (criminal court), I think carry tremendous duty to uphold justice in comparison with their counterparts, like in the US.
Why? In the US, we have a judicial system “trial by jury” . The Consitution says that the trial of crime shall be by Jury.
So in an American courtroom there are in a sense twelve judges (a panel of 12 jurors) in attendance, not just one..
They are there with the power to review the “law” as well as the “facts”. Actually, the Judge is there to conduct the proceedings in an oderly fashion and maintain the safety of all parties involved.
Many legal scholars believe, that the power of jury at works–>the power to decide the issues of law under which the defendant is charged, as well as the facts. So in our system of checks and balances, the jury is our final check, the people’s last safeguard against unjust law and tyranny. (Note: any US citizen who can vote, can also be called to serve as Juror).
I do hope that Judges in Indonesia, have strong character, sense of fairness and courage under any “pressure” which come with their powerful position.