Asymmetric decentralization, accommodation and separatist conflict: lessons from Aceh and Papua, Indonesia

ABSTRACT

The employment of asymmetric decentralization to deal with separatist conflicts has become increasingly popular in recent years. However, contentions remain as to whether it is an effective tool to deal with separatist conflict. This article extends the debate by looking specifically at the conditions that affect the effectiveness of decentralization. It argues that the workability of decentralization in dealing with separatist conflicts is affected by the degree of accommodation in both the process of designing the policy and the policy outcomes it succeeds to bring. It pursues this argument qualitatively by using the cases of Aceh and Papua in Indonesia. Decentralization successfully tamed the separatist conflict in Aceh because it involved separatist elements in designing the plan and succeeded in achieving most of the promised outcomes. In contrast, decentralization failed to tame separatist demands in Papua because it enabled only limited participation of separatist elements in the design process and brought only limited outcomes.

KEYWORDS:

• asymmetric decentralization
• accommodation
• separatism
• Aceh
• Papua
• Indonesia

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author thanks two anonymous referees for their insightful comments and suggestions.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 See https://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2004_2009/documents/dv/aceh_pressrelease2005_09_27_/aceh_pressrelease2005_09_27_en.pdf and https://www.merdeka.com/politik/kapolda-tidak-ada-lagi-senjata-beredar-di-aceh-2msg4ex.html (accessed on March 29, 2020).

2 See https://www.vice.com/id_id/article/zmg4e3/pergulatan-hidup-mantan-kombatan-gerakan-aceh-merdeka-di-masa-damai (accessed on March 29, 2020).

3 Processed from the Aceh Independent Commission, https://kip.acehprov.go.id (accessed on March 22, 2020).

4 See https://suarapapua.com/2020/02/29/ini-keputusan-dan-rekomendasi-mrp-dan-mrpb/; https://papuasatu.com/pilkada/mrp-papua-dan-mrp-pb-deklarasikan-bupati-wakil-walikota-wakil-walikota-harus-oap/ (accessed on March 27, 2020).

5 Author’s calculation from various sources.

6 See https://regional.kompas.com/read/2016/03/14/19470031/Kemenkumham.Bekukan.Pendirian.Partai.Lokal.di.Papua (accessed on March 18, 2020).

7 See https://mediaindonesia.com/read/detail/258390-gugatan-partai-lokal-papua-disidangkan; (accessed on March 15, 2020).

8 See http://rri.co.id/post/berita/580135/nasional/penolakan_cat_di_tanah_papua_karena_tidak_siap_fasilitas_dan_sdm.html (accessed on March 20, 2020).

9 See https://www.cnnindonesia.com/ekonomi/20200217173049-85-475434/erick-thohir-tunjuk-orang-papua-jadi-direksi-freeport (accessed on March 19, 2020).

 

Additional information

Funding

The author acknowledges financial support from the Department of Public Policy and Management, Universitas Gadjah Mada [grant number 1/MKP/2020].