With Sultan's Swearing In, SBY Puts Yogyakarta-Jakarta Tensions to Rest

Jakarta Globe, Arientha Primanita,  October 10, 2012

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, right, inaugurates Sri Sultan
 Hamengkubuwono X, left, as the governor of Yogyakarta, in a ceremony at
 the Yogyakarta Presidential Palace on Wednesday. (Antara Photo/
 Presidential Office/Abror Rizki)

   

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At a ceremony officially swearing in the governor and deputy governor of Yogyakarta, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Wednesday recognized the special status of the region, praising its “superior and advanced” achievements and affirming the province’s right to a distinctive system of local governance.

“Law Number 13 of 2012 is a form of recognition and at the same time of respect by the state for regional authorities that have specific and special characteristics. The state recognizes the special nature of Yogyakarta as a regional government that is different from those in other provinces,” Yudhoyono said.

He was speaking at a ceremony in Yogyakarta to swear in Sultan Hamengkubuwono X as governor and Prince Paku Alam IX as his deputy for the 2012-17 period. It was the first time the governor and deputy governor had ever been sworn in by a president.

The bill addressing the special territory of Yogyakarta was passed by the House of Representatives on Aug. 30 and signed into law by the president on Aug. 31, putting to a close years of disagreement between locals and the central government.

Jakarta had pushed for the leadership of the special territory, which holds the rank of a full province, to be elected as in other regions in Indonesia. But the people of Yogyakarta argued that under a special territory status granted to Yogyakarta by founding President Sukarno in recognition of the city’s contribution to Indonesia's struggle for independence in the 1940s, the reigning sultan of Yogyakarta and the prince of Paku Alam were to automatically become governor and deputy governor.

In his speech on Wednesday, Yudhoyono said the special status accorded to Yogyakarta could not be separated from the city-province’s role in the nation’s push for independence from the Dutch.

“History records that the special status accorded to Yogyakarta is part of the process of the establishment of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia,” he said, referring to an official announcement issued on Sept. 5, 1945, by then-Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX and Prince Paku Alam VIII, which stated that the sultanate of Yogyakarta was an integral part of the young republic.

The president said Law No. 13 granted special authority for Yogyakarta to have its own method for filling the governor and deputy governor posts, as well as in deciding matters of local governance, cultural development, land and zoning affairs, and special funding.

Yudhoyono also recognized Yogyakarta’s varied accomplishments.

“This province is superior and advanced in the fields of education, culture and tourism. The special territory of Yogyakarta has also recorded achievements in the creative industries, in its high life expectancy average and an education sector that is a main component of the human development index here,” Yudhoyono said.

The sultan, who became head of the Royal House following the death of his father, Hamengkubuwono IX, in 1989, automatically became governor after acting Governor Paku Alam VIII passed away in 1998.

The current deputy governor, Paku Alam IX, assumed his post in 2003.

The sultan’s hereditary claim to the governorship caused strains with the central government for years. At the peak of the tensions, Yogyakarta residents staged rallies demanding that the region break away from Indonesia. Given the strong resistance, the central government eventually softened its stance.

Analysts have praised the 66-year-old sultan as an able governor, with the province of more than 3.5 million people seeing rising economic prosperity since he took office in 1998. Under his rule, Yogyakarta remains one of Indonesia’s wealthiest and most religiously tolerant provinces.