Could Yogyakarta Finally be The Sultanate Republic?

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com
A heated discourse on determining the status of Yogyakarta has been filling the air
with a big question: will there ever be a Sultanate Republic of Yogyakarta?
"No, theres no way for any referendum to determine the status of Yogyakarta.
Thats would be unconstitutional as there will be no legal basis for holding a
referendum in this regard," said Constitutional Court chief Mahfud M.D. who
spoke to the media here Tuesday afternoon.
Yogyakarta is a province within the unitary state of the Republic of Indonesia. Yet,
Yogyakarta is steeped in royal culture inherited from the long history of the
Javanese sultanate which resulted in the sultan becoming automatically the
governor of the province since the birth of the republic in the mid 1940s.
Mahfud, who built his teaching career at the Yogyakarta-based Universitas Islam
Indonesia (UII) before moving into politics a decade ago in Jakarta, tried his best
to stand in between the seemingly open conflict between President Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono and Yogyakarta province governor Sultan
Hamengkubuwono X.
President Yudhoyono has voiced opposition to the discourse on letting the Sultan
of Yogyakarta hold the automatic governorship of the province. He apparently
wants Yogyakarta governorship filled by someone elected through a direct
election, just like in all the republics 32 other provinces.
In his response, Sultan Hamengkubuwono X has said that he will tender his
resignation as governor of the province if the central government regards him as
an obstacle in the restructuring of the provinces administrative arrangement.
Citing relevant articles of the Indonesian 1945 Constitution, Mahfud said both
President Yudhoyono and Governor Hamengkubuwono were constitutionally
correct in their stances vis a vis the discourse.
Article 18 point 4 of the Constitution, Mahfud said, stipulates that governors,
district heads and mayors are respectively the heads of provincial, district and

city governments. They are all democratically elected leaders who get their term
in office through direct elections.
Whereas, just underneath that very article of the Constitution, Article 18B
stipulates that a special status is granted to Yogyakarta. This article clearly points
out that the state acknowledges and respects the certain units of regional
governments which enjoy special status, or of special characters, though remain
being governed by the laws.
"I just want to say that both (leaders) have their constitutional views which must
be respected," said Mahfud in a clear tone of balancing his position in the debate,
in contrast to the positions taken by some political and public figures who indicate
their pro- or contra ideas.
Mahfud added that there are five regions in Indonesia that hold special status.
Aceh province was made a special region due to its Islamic law system
implemented in the province; Jakarta became special because it was the capital of
the country and Yogyakarta has special status because of its historical heritage.
Mahfud, however, let both camps, those in support of the specialty of Yogyakarta
and therefore back the Sultan as an automatic governor, and those with a contrary
opinion and deem that a democratic political process a necessity, to debate their
arguments openly in the parliament.
Monarchy System
The national discourse has been developing fast since earlier this week after
President Yudhoyono made a comment related to the issue. "There should not be a
monarchy system which contradicts our Constitution or democratic values," the
president said, adding that the nation "need to find a system that represents all
considerations, including the special status of Yogyakarta and the implementation
of democratic values."
This statement was then followed by a comment by Sultan Hamengkubuwono in
which he said ready to resign from the Yogyakarta governorship. He hinted that
his being on the governorship seat of the province might have been seen as an
obstacle to include the province in the direct election systems applied nationally.

However, a Presidential aide, Velix Wanggai, said to the media that President
Yudhoyono has always "respected" Yogyakartas special status as a province and a
sultanate. And that he would consider the long history of the Yogyakarta sultanate
as the central government works to implement democracy in all regions.
"The President still takes into account the special status of Yogyakarta, the
existing system there and the history of the kingdoms merger into the unitary
state of the Republic of Indonesia," Velix said on Sunday.
Airlangga University sociologist Hotman Siahaan said that it was wrong to
consider Yogyakarta a monarchy. Yogyakarta was a "symbolic" monarchy for the
Javanese - and not a true political monarchy.
"The government of Yogyakarta has applied all the principles of democracy and
the administration functions just like other provinces. It would be wrong if the
President did not immediately affirm Yogyakartas special status," he said on
Monday.
New Law
The government has been asked with preparing a new law on the status of
Yogyakarta after the old one prepared by the previous House of Representatives
was suspended following a deadlock over the main issue of whether the
provinces governor was to be elected or appointed.All nine House factions have
proposed the automatic appointment of the Yogyakarta king or sultan to governor,
but the government represented by former home minister Mardiyanto wanted the
governor to be elected through a public direct election.
Indonesia owed its Independence to Yogyakarta Sultanate when the highly
respected Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX stood decisively in defense of the
fledgling republic after declared that the sultanate merged into the republic.
President Sukarno then awarded a province status, a special one, including the
sultans privilege to be governor.
A survey conducted by Kompas daily in April 2007 showed that 74.9 percent of
residents in the province agreed that their governor should be someone from the
sultanate. Another survey conducted in the same year showed a similar result.

Summary

Yogyakarta is a province within the unitary state of the Republic of

Indonesia. Yet, Yogyakarta is steeped in royal culture inherited from the long
history of the Javanese sultanate which resulted in the sultan becoming
automatically the governor of the province since the birth of the republic in the
mid 1940s.
Mahfud, who built his teaching career at the Yogyakarta-based Universitas
Islam Indonesia (UII) before moving into politics a decade ago in Jakarta, tried his
best to stand in between the seemingly open conflict between President Susilo
Bambang

Yudhoyono

and

Yogyakarta

province

governor

Sultan

Hamengkubuwono X.
President Yudhoyono has voiced opposition to the discourse on letting the
Sultan of Yogyakarta

hold the automatic governorship of the province. He

apparently wants Yogyakarta governorship filled by someone elected through a

direct election, just like in all the republics 32 other provinces.
In his response, Sultan Hamengkubuwono X has said that he will tender his
resignation as governor of the province if the central government regards him as
an obstacle in the restructuring of the provinces administrative arrangement.
The national discourse has been developing fast since earlier this week after
President Yudhoyono made a comment related to the issue. "There should not be a
monarchy system which contradicts our Constitution or democratic values," the
president said, adding that the nation "need to find a system that represents all
considerations, including the special status of Yogyakarta and the implementation
of democratic values."
This

statement

was

then

followed

by

comment

by

Sultan

Hamengkubuwono in which he said ready to resign from the Yogyakarta

governorship. He hinted that his being on the governorship seat of the province
might have been seen as an obstacle to include the province in the direct election
systems applied nationally.

Opinion

By virtue of this case , i want to give my some opinion about the

controversy Could Yogyakarta Finally be The Sultanate Republic?. This
controversy make the Indonesian people to give his/her opinion about this case.
The opinion can be in form of Pro or Contra.
Indonesia is a country which have many different tradition and culture.
This tradition and culture represent their identity in each region.
Each region have different governance system, such as Yogyakarta. This region
still use the monarchic governance system. This governance system is led by a
king.
The governments program to change Yogyakartas Governance System
from monarchic to democratic party surely generate contracdistinction from
people, especially native people from Yogyakarta. They difficult to leave their
culture which hereditary they attentive.
In my opinion, if this decision is applied in Yogyakarta, then will difficult
to applied. Because native people disagree about this program. Especially,
Yogyakarta is one of some region with special status. Like Nanggroe Aceh
Darussalam (NAD), Yogyakarta also have special status. This status given to
Yogyakarta, because Yogyakarta have historycal heritage.
If this decision want to applied in Yogyakarta, then need agreement from
Indonesian people. Because Indonesia is a country which follow democratic party.