The DIY province is situated along the south coast of central Java. It occupies 3185.80 square kilometres, or 0.17 per cent of Indonesia’s total territory. Geographically it is
surrounded by the Central Java province and the Indonesian (Indian) Ocean. A map of Indonesia and the DIY province is displayed in Figure 4.1.
Figure 4.1. Map of Indonesia and the Special Region of Yogyakarta
The DIY territory includes fertile land on the slopes of the active volcano, Mt Merapi, the poor and dry limestone highlands in the eastern to south-eastern end, and a rich flat zone, which is situated in the western to southern region. The fertile highland and lowland zones, especially along the Progo and Opak rivers, are predominantly used as
Kulon Progo Regency
The Indian Ocean
Yogyakarta City The Central Java Province
The Central Java Province Sleman Regency
Gunung Kidul Regency Java Islands
The Special Region of Yogyakarta
Bantul Regency
irrigated rice fields, cash crops farms and sugarcane plantations; within this area the Borobudur and Prambanan temples can be found.
Yogyakarta was granted the status of a special region (Daerah Istimewa) for the distinctive and historical background that was inherited from the Kingdom of Mataram, and the loyal support that Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX gave to the Republic, during the struggle for independence against the Dutch colonial government.
The region is also known as the centre of traditional Javanese culture and traditions as these have developed since the era of Hinduism–Buddhism and the emergence of Islam.
Culturally and politically, the position and roles of the Sri Sultan are unique. In the eyes of the people of Yogyakarta, the Sultan is the utmost authority and the king who holds supreme power to protect the entire community (Selosoemardjan 1962). It has been a common tradition in the local communities to demonstrate their sincere honour, admiration and great loyalty to the Sultan, the royal family and the symbols of the monarchy. For his part, the Sultan shows his great concern for the wellbeing of his people.
The Special Region Law No. 3/1950 grants the Sultan the power to rule the region’s domestic affairs and to maintain the kingdom’s customs and traditions. The Sultan’s authority is akin to that of a provincial governor. The Sri Sultan fulfils these dual roles as the sultan and the governor. The current governor is the Sri Sultan Hamongkubuwono X and the deputy governor is the Paku Alam IX, another member of the Yogyakarta royal family. Under the DIY provincial structure, there are Bupati and Walikota as heads of district and municipality administrations respectively.
four districts (Kabupaten) and one municipality (Kotamadya): Bantul in the south, Gunung Kidul in the south-east, Kulon Progo in the west and Sleman in the north, and Yogyakarta city in the centre. Each of the districts/municipalities supervise a larger number of sub-districts, villages and hamlets, but the area within each district, with the exception of Gunung Kidul, is small compared to counterparts in other provinces. With an adequate road network and public infrastructure, nearly all the region and remote hamlets are connected and accessible by public and private transportation, which allow people to be mobile and for agricultural commodities and goods to be distributed within the region.
Table 4.1. Area and Local Administration of the DIY Province
Key Indicators
Regency/Municipality DIY
Province Bantul Kulon Progo Gunung
Kidul
Sleman Yogyakarta City
1. Area (km2) 506.85 586.27 1,485.36 574.82 32.50 3,185.80
2. Sub-district 3. Village 4. Hamlet
17 75 934
12 88 930
18 144 1,432
17 86 1,212
14 45 -
78 438 4,508 Source: BAPPEDA-DIY (2010).
Although the DIY province has the status of a special region, its districts/municipality governmental structure and administration system are regulated by the Regional Autonomy Law No. 22/1999, as revised in Law No. 32/2004, regarding regional government structure and the Law No. 25/1999 regarding the fiscal relationship between the central government and regional administrations20. Under Law No. 32/2004 the head of district or Bupati and head of municipality or Walikota, are elected directly by the people for a five-year term.21
In general, the principal objective of decentralisation was to enhance the authority of the Bupati or Walikota to manage the local administration and to allocate the budget,22 as well as to mobilize internal sources of revenue with less intervention from the provincial and/or central governments. Thus, it provides greater opportunities for the local leadership to determine its own agenda and the socio-welfare programs that are suitable to the local socio-economic conditions and to enhance the livelihood and prosperity of the majority of the inhabitants. In other words, democratisation and decentralisation empowers more people to participate in formulating public policies, and encourages local development initiatives. Since its inception, however, the implementation of the decentralisation system has not successfully met public expectations. There is some evidence to suggest that the provision of greater authority
20 These laws were revised in 2004
21 At the district/municipality level, there is also a local parliamentary council (DPRD) elected in the national general election as stated in the Law No 10/2008 regarding the general election and parliamentary membership along with provincial and national parliaments (DPR, DPD and DPRD). The local parliament functions are mainly to legislate, make regulations and scrutinise the budget. In addition, each of the district/municipality governments supervises sub-districts (Kecamatan), and villages (Desa and Kelurahan), and hamlets (Dusun).
22 The central government provides a block grant that consists of a general allocation budget and special allocation funds to support regency/municipality administration. In addition, the local central government shares 15 per cent of oil and 30 per cent of gas revenues, 80 per cent of forestry, mining and fishery incomes to each regency/municipality, which relates to these strategic natural resources.
to the Bupati or Walikota tends to create political tensions and disharmony between the district/municipality administrations and the provincial and national governments, as well as with neighbouring district governments (Brodjonegoro and Asanuma 2000;
Sukma 2003).
Interestingly, in Yogyakarta, conflicts among the elite rarely occur and the nature of political relationships between the provincial and district administrations is relatively harmonious, although there are deficiencies in coordination and policy synchronisation among the government agencies. It is hard to deny that the Sultan has successfully used his authority and traditional power to enhance the socio-political harmony in the region.
It seems that the dual leadership of the Sultan, both as the legitimate governor and as the symbolic king of the Yogyakarta monarchy, is an exceptional political asset for this region to achieve its development objectives. More recently, however, the central government has considered an amendment to the Special Region Law by introducing democratic election rather than maintaining the political right of Sri Sultan to be the appointed governor. If this were to happen, the status of the DIY would become like that of an ordinary province.