Indonesian Autonomies: Explaining Divergent Self-Government Outcomes in Aceh and Papua

Abstract

A form of power-sharing, territorial autonomy is essential for managing separatism. Indonesia provides two non-Western cases to illuminate what makes autonomy work. In Aceh, autonomy helped to overcome conflict and can be regarded as successful, while in Papua, autonomy has failed, evident in continued unrest. Within the same country, the same institutional response to violent separatism has generated divergent self-government outcomes. Why has autonomy succeeded in Aceh, but failed in Papua? Utilizing within-case and temporal comparisons, we suggest that the content of autonomy may be less important than the process through which it unfolds. The powers granted to Aceh and Papua are similar, although how self-government was negotiated and whom it empowered varied. Early in Aceh and in Papua, autonomy was essentially imposed, empowering corrupt leaders, and sidelining dissidents. Aceh’s ultimately successful autonomy was negotiated and saw popular former rebels take the reins of self-government.

Why Was “Self-Government” Not Achieved in Aceh? The Challenges of Implementing a Peace Agreement

“…In the end, this study confirms some statements of Schulte (2018) and Barter & Wangge (2022) that the success of self-government implementation in a post-conflict region requires; that the content and process of negotiations must be reaffirmed clearly and broadly in the law, self-government negotiations must be inclusive, involving various national political elites who control the government, international supports to negotiations and implementation.…”

“…The findings confirm some statements of Schulte (2018) and Barter & Wangge (2022) that the content and process of negotiations must be reaffirmed clearly and broadly in the law, self-government negotiations must be inclusive, involving various national political elites, international support to negotiations and implementation is needed. However, this study requires several other things for the successful implementation of self-government, namely; (1) the positions of the conflicting parties are balanced; (2) The concept of self-government is clearly stated and written in the agreement and new law; (3) Negotiators of conflict parties represent various elements and political structures, but not extends beyond the main actors of the conflict; and (4) Sanctions are required for the violator of agreements from international third parties.…”

A Study of Prospective Local Own-Source Revenues in Central Mamuju, Indonesia

“…According to regulations, the tax object for groundwater is: (1) the extraction and/or utilization of soil water, (2) the services, such as the sale of food and beverages consumed by the buyer. However, the object of the groundwater tax is excluded from taking or utilizing groundwater for basic household purposes, irrigating people's agriculture and fisheries, as well as worship.…”

“…In the autonomy era, regions gain greater authority to regulate and manage their households. The aim is not merely to bring government services closer to the community (Asmorowati, Schubert, & Ningrum, 2022;Barter & Wangge, 2021;Talitha, Firman, & Hudalah, 2020), and make it easier to monitor and control the use of funds sourced from the Regional Budget and Expenditure Revenues (APBD). But also to create fair competition between regions and the emergence of innovation (Strumpf, 2002;Taylor, 2007).…”

Separatism Movement and Contemporary Reconciliation: Causes and its Impact towards Political Development in Papua

“…The government ignores the separatist group which is the most important element in the process (Ropik et al, 2018;Sepriansyah et al, 2021). So that, the resulting policy does not fully accommodate the demands of the Papuan, it causes greater dissatisfaction (Barter & Wangge, 2021;Lele, 2021;Rakia et al, 2021).…”