Unleashing Community Empowerment through A New Regional Autonomy Concept in the 2024 Elections

: Long-term planning in all regions in Indonesia in 2025 provides a powerful opportunity to commit governments to community empowerment, an opportunity dependent on the intention of those who are elected to power in the 2024 elections, and their commitment to stress sustainable economic development in those long-term plans, and the regulations to implement the plan. As the culture of reglomania ( gila peraturan ) is a key inhibiter of empowerment there is a need to change that culture to one that empowers and directs development of the green economy. This paper identifies problems with legislation, including a failure to identify the public service of creating an ordered environment for community development, including regulations for economic linkages and collaboration while providing for diversity. This leads to a reconsideration of the role of provinces, further consideration of accessibility and management of land, and integrity in government. The paper concludes with changes needed in campaigning in 2024 in order to lay the foundation for medium-term and long-term plans for building community empowerment after the elections, and provides a set of recommendations.


INTRODUCTION
The problem at hand revolves around the immediate need to empower communities in preparation for the upcoming elections in 2024. It is crucial to ensure that the voices of the people are not only heard during the elections but also utilized to empower them through effective governance in the outcome. This paper aims to address the essential aspect of community service, specifically focusing on the electoral process in 2024.
Examples of lack of empowerment serve as reminders of the existing challenges faced by communities. Consider, the devastating 2005 earthquake left the economy of Nias in ruins, and while people attempted to empower the community through productivity training (Nazara & Resosudarmo, 2007), the bigger hindrance came from the "Medan Mafia" that hindered farmers, plantation owners, and workers from obtaining fairer benefits. Additionally, neglect in road maintenance in Lampung disempowered the people, undermining the empowerment of the people, until the national government stepped in (Syarawie, 2023). The decline of the lontar palm industry among the Sabunese and Rotenese people further illustrates how communities can lose their traditional means of sustenance due to a lack of empowerment to find markets (Fahrizal et al., 2019). Furthermore, the common discussion on waste management in Indonesia places the blame on individuals rather than holding producers accountable for packaging waste (Phelan et al., 2020), thereby inhibiting community empowerment.
The legacy of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and his aspirations for the post-2024 period provide an essential backdrop for understanding the need for change. While President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) introduced bureaucratic reform, it did little to empower communities, as indicated by confidential memos from the Independent Team for Bureaucratic Reform (TI-RB) to Vice President Boediono. Jokowi's Nawacita campaign, with its focus on building Indonesia from the fringes and improving quality of life (Wedhaswary, 2014), showcased a radical departure from previous approaches. During his presidency, Jokowi instigated change in three distinct phases---in his first period in office, in his second period, and in his preparation for the President to be elected in 2024 ---underscoring his commitment to improving governance and empowering the people.
The upcoming general elections in 2024 will witness a significant shift in their dynamics. Unlike previous years, the national elections and regional elections will be held in the same year, wherein all regional leaders will be elected in November 2024 (Wibawana, 2023). Traditionally, the focus of national elections every five years revolved around electing a President, while the election of parliamentarians took place simultaneously. Campaigns primarily emphasized the contrasting qualities of the candidates and their campaign promises. As regional leader elections occurred at various times between national elections in the past, local issues were largely disregarded at national elections. The forthcoming elections have garnered media attention on the differences in election management and largely ignored the substantial change that will transpire in 2025. During this period, newly elected leaders and Regional People's Representative Council (DPRD) members will collectively formulate new medium-term and longterm plans. This unique opportunity will enable government planners to collaborate and design a comprehensive roadmap for the future of Indonesia and each of its regions, ensuring both consistency and diversity in developmental initiatives.
Notably, the significance of the 2024 elections lies in the fact that approximately 60% of potential voters are young people who bear the brunt of the challenges facing their world (Febriyan, 2023). It is imperative that the plans developed by regions in 2025, along with the campaign promises made by parties in 2024, prioritize the empowerment and wellbeing of communities at the province, regency, city, and district levels. Consequently, these elections emerge as the primary catalyst for community empowerment.
In light of these considerations, this paper aims to explore a new regional autonomy concept designed to unleash community empowerment in the 2024 elections. By placing communities at the forefront of the electoral process, we can pave the way for a transformative future, ensuring the prosperity and resilience of Indonesian society for generations to come.
Despite the growing recognition of the importance of community empowerment in the context of governance and sustainable development (see some anecdotal evidence, e.g. Arifudin et al., 2013;Badaruddin et al., 2021;Gibson & Woolcock, 2008;Maryunani, 2019;Santoso et al., 2017), there remains a research gap in understanding how to effectively unleash community empowerment through a new regional autonomy concept in the 2024 elections. While previous studies have explored various aspects of community empowerment and regional autonomy (Aminah et al., 2021;Nugroho & Sujarwoto, 2021;Smith, 2008), there is a lack of comprehensive research specifically focusing on the JISCOS Owen Main Podger 3 electoral process and its role in driving community empowerment in the Indonesian context. Existing research on community empowerment often emphasizes the need for participatory decision-making processes (Panek, 2015), capacity-building initiatives (Chino & DeBruyn, 2006), and inclusive governance structures (Damayanti & Syarifuddin, 2020;Palacios, 2016). However, there is a dearth of studies that delve into the specific mechanisms and strategies that can be employed during the electoral period to actively engage communities and empower them to influence policy formulation and implementation. The 2024 elections present a unique opportunity to examine how political campaigns, party platforms, and candidate promises can be tailored to prioritize community empowerment. By exploring this research gap, we can gain insights into the potential pathways for integrating community empowerment into the electoral discourse and shaping the post-election governance landscape.
Furthermore, while regional autonomy has been a prominent aspect of governance reforms in Indonesia, there is limited research that investigates the intersection between regional autonomy and community empowerment. The concept of regional autonomy is often associated with decentralization of power and decision-making authority to local governments (Brodjonegoro & Asanuma, 2000;Jamil et al., 2022;Kis-Katos & Sjahrir, 2017). However, the extent to which regional autonomy can effectively facilitate community empowerment and foster sustainable development requires further exploration. Understanding how regional autonomy can be reimagined and redefined to prioritize community empowerment in the 2024 elections is crucial for designing effective governance models that truly empower communities and address their specific needs and aspirations.
The research gap lies in the need for a comprehensive examination of how the electoral process in the 2024 elections can be leveraged to unleash community empowerment. This includes investigating the mechanisms by which political campaigns and party platforms can be designed to prioritize community empowerment, as well as exploring the potential of redefining regional autonomy to effectively support and enhance community empowerment efforts. By filling this research gap, the study aims to contribute valuable insights that can inform policymakers, political parties, and community leaders in their efforts to create a more inclusive and empowering governance framework in Indonesia.
The subsequent stages of this research will delve into the methodology employed to examine the new regional autonomy concept and its impact on community empowerment in the 2024 elections. The methodology section will outline the data collection methods, analytical framework, and research design used to explore the research questions and address the research gap identified in the literature. Following the methodology, the discussion section will present the findings and insights derived from the analysis, shedding light on the effectiveness of the new regional autonomy concept in unleashing community empowerment. Finally, the concluding section will provide a summary of the key findings, their implications, and recommendations for policymakers, political parties, and community leaders to foster community empowerment through the electoral process in 2024.

METHOD
A few years ago, the author wrote a paper entitled "Ideas for Economic Decentralisation" (Podger, 2020) prepared from discussions with Suahasil Nazara, Vice Minister of Finance. Suahasil believed it was time for economic decentralisation so that local governments were tasked with empowering their communities to promote their own development. This paper extends on those ideas to explore the concept of unleashing community empowerment through a new regional autonomy approach in the 2024 elections.
The argumentation of this paper is rather circular. The scope is the community empowerment that is dependent on regulation, but the paper identifies the culture of reglomania (gila peraturan) (Gilbert, 1991) as a key inhibiter of empowerment and the need for it to change in order to regulate for the green economy. This leads to identifying a set of problems with legislation, including a failure to identify the real public service given by effective regulation.
The paper identifies the types of regulation needed to promote economic development, through economic linkages and collaboration, while acknowledging diversity. This leads to a reconsideration of the role of provinces. Then further consideration of accessibility and management of land. The paper returns to the legislative problem of just defining the role played by each level of government, when it should define collaboration.
This provides the platform to discuss the change needed in regulating to create the orderliness needed to build community empowerment. Before making conclusions and recommendations, the discussion turns to the problem of integrity in government. The paper concludes with the changes needed in campaigning in 2024 to lay the foundation for medium-term and long-term plans for building community empowerment, and provides a set of recommendations.

From regulating to ordering the green economy
The significance of establishing a "green economy" is underscored by the United Nationals Environmental Programme (UNEP, 2020). The green economy refers to an economic framework that is marked by low carbon emissions, efficient resource utilization, and societal inclusion. A green economy encourages both public and private investments in economic operations, infrastructure, and assets that lowers carbon emissions and pollution, increase energy and resource efficiency, and maintain biodiversity and ecosystem services.
Understanding the enormity of the task at hand, candidates face a significant challenge in comprehending the complexities of developing green economies. If elected, they will need this understanding to effectively plan for the next two decades starting in early 2025. Leading the way in green economy initiatives within different regions necessitates a shift away from excessive regulations towards the attraction and sustenance of green growth. While regulations will still be required for enforcement purposes, a new kind of regulation is needed to establish the principles of green business expansion and offer incentives to investors, businesses, particularly micro and small enterprises (Masruro & Nasrulloh, 2022;Olanipekun, 2022).
The green economy calls for novel approaches to foster economic orderliness, which can be categorized as governance or tata kelola in a broader sense. Governance extends beyond government regulations and includes self-governance within businesses and communities (Vazquez-Brust et al., 2020), as illustrated in the accompanying diagram. To ensure inclusive participation in this governance framework, local governments play a central role in empowering businesses, workers, and the community to govern themselves. Additionally, they facilitate collaboration between businesses, labor, and the community.

Some problems with legislation
According to Article 1(2) of the Constitution (UUD), sovereignty belongs to the people, which refers to their absolute power in the country. This concept, known as "kedaulatan" in Indonesian, can be contrasted with UUD Article 18. Here is a paraphrase of parts of two sub-articles: (1) Indonesia, both its land and its people, is divided into provinces (being the land and the people), which are divided into regencies and cities.
(2) Regional governments [pemerintahan daerah], consisting of the head of government and the regional parliament, possess the widest autonomy, except in Central Government matters determined by law. While the people hold supreme power and authority nationally, autonomy is not granted to the people in each region. Instead, it is bestowed upon the regional government, comprising the head of the region and the regional parliament. It is reasonable to infer that, since the people have national sovereignty, they possess the highest authority within their respective regions as well.
However, it would be preferable to see to stated that autonomy is granted to the people of each region, when they elect their leaders and representatives to manage their autonomy. It is crucial for political parties and candidates in the 2024 elections to recognize that they serve the people, as this is how national sovereignty should manifest at the regional level. Two issues in Law 23 of 2014 on regional government exacerbate the problem of acknowledging that regional autonomy is given to the people. Firstly, the law defines the responsibilities of regional governments, meaning the executive (urusan pemerintah daerah) rather than focusing on policy decisions made by elected leaders and representatives on behalf of the people, who should be the ones exercising autonomy. This results in a situation where, for instance, a work unit for road maintenance is required, whereas what the people truly desire are decisions that prioritize the upkeep of roads crucial for sustaining their local economy. Secondly, the allocation of resources, funding, and personnel necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of regional government is not always proportionate. Thus, even if the people want their roads maintained, their regional government may lack the necessary funds and competent staff to carry out the task.
Law 25 of 2009 on Public Services also faces problems. It defines public services as the provision of goods, services, or administrative actions to satisfy the needs of citizens and residents. However, this definition differs from the internationally-recognized understanding of public services, which are goods or services that can only be provided by the government. To illustrate this, the author provided advice to the office of the Vice President during time there (Podger, 2011): …permission to build a factory is a service provided to an industrialist. His compliance with the conditions of planning and environmental control … are a service to the public, as they help assure a clean and ordered environment. This is a public service as it can only be provided by government... By not regulating the real public service, this law fails to protect the public interest.
We have defined three types of public services: services directly provided to individuals (such as education and healthcare), services available for public use (such as street lighting and canal cleaning), and services by regulating behavior (such as demanding compliance with the conditions in construction permits). The third type of service, which promotes social order and is crucial for market development and sustainability, must be enforced to truly function as a public service. It is through this third type of service that communities are empowered and social order is established, creating the necessary conditions for markets to flourish and ensure sustainability.

Economic linkages and collaboration
Even if Kabupaten and Kota were given greater autonomy, their ability to improve their economies on their own is limited. Except for the autonomy to collaborate, there is no pure autonomy in economic development. The interconnectedness of an economy is its strength. A thorough examination of economic linkages reveals numerous connections that support economic growth, such as: links to resources for farmers and local businesses; links to processing facilities for local products; links to banks and business services; links to transportation and telecommunications infrastructure.
Many of these links extend beyond the jurisdiction of local governments, but the vast majority are contained within the borders of provinces. Provinces serve as economic zones in which various parties from various kabupaten and kota collaborate in economic activities through a complex network of interconnections. Provinces also can facilitate cross-provincial collaboration for economic activities in kabupaten and kota.
Both the second and third types of services mentioned earlier are required for the establishment and maintenance of these links. These services include providing the necessary infrastructure as well as maintaining order and providing incentives for collaboration.

Special and distinctive
Economic development is different in every region. Each region has its distinctive nature (keistimewaan) and deserves special treatment (kekhususan).
The constitution calls for recognition in law of when regions have special and distinctive characteristics. Until now this has been interpreted so that only six regions, all provinces, are considered distinctive or special in law: Jakarta and Nusantara are special because they are the existing and the new capital, Yogyakarta is distinctive because the people recognise the Sultan as their leader and so he is nominated as governor. Aceh, and the provinces that now make up Tanah Papua are special to resolve special problems. But in fact, all regions even down to every kecamatan is distinctive and deserves special treatment, and we should be addressing these without having to make special laws for each.

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Owen Main Podger 6 Even every desa is distinctive, and deserves special treatment in order for there to be a sense of equality in the assistance they get to empower their communities.

From division of urusan to collaboration
The author has already mentioned the issue of autonomy being defined by areas of government business rather than areas for popular will. Another flaw in regional government legislation is the notion that three levels of government handle their own affairs. The legal term for this is konkuren.
If we want to empower the community, we must all work together, not individually. We need community collaboration to achieve an orderly and appealing economy that benefits everyone. In addition, collaboration must adhere to agreed-upon procedures, which we call tata kelola in Bahasa Indonesia and governance in English. Figure 1 depicts the entire governance process, including three areas of governance and how they interact. The rules for public entity behavior, the rules for working between levels of government, between public agencies, with the corporate world, and with the community are all covered by public sector governance. Corporate governance encompasses the rules that govern behavior within businesses as well as between businesses, suppliers, and markets. These rules may be established by the government, businesses themselves, or business associations. Furthermore, the rules should cover business relationships with the government and the community. The rules of personal and group behavior are covered by community governance. Most rules are set by custom and religion, so they are not formally rules, but simply the way children are raised to behave. However, the government and each civil society organization have established community rules. They should also cover interactions with the government (such as following regulations and paying taxes) and with businesses. Government rules may prevent community empowerment. Rules can be contradictory or inconsistent. However, greater community empowerment is contingent on changes in governance, potentially in all three areas.

Redefining province
The most important aspect of community engagement is market governance, and markets can extend far beyond local communities. Provinsi, kabupaten, and kota are not defined in the regional government law. According to the author's interpretation of Article 18(1) of the Constitution (quoted above), provinces are communities comprised of the communities of their kabupaten and kota.
DPD-RI drafted a definition of province in 2009 (in a proposed regional government law that did not proceed in DPR-RI) as a community of the constituents of its members' electorates (DPD RI, 2009).

…Provinces are regions with borders within the unitary state of the Republic of Indonesia, including the community that reside in them as a legal entity with the right to regulate externalities in the practice of government in Kabupaten and Kota…
Provinces were defined in this definition as coordinating and synchronizing externalities of public sector governance in kabupaten and kota. This would clarify the assistance provided by the Central Java government to people in the mountains outside of Purwokerto in order for them to sell carrots to Taiwan. It would provide justification for the NTT government to assist the people of Sumba in selling beef rather than cattle to Java and Hong Kong.
Furthermore, DPD-RI proposed an annual Provincial Convention between Gubernur, Bupati, and Walikota. This convention would serve as a public forum to ensure that development plans, spatial plans, water and energy plans, conservation plans, and other similar initiatives are coordinated. To begin implementing this perception of the province as a community, no legislative changes are required. It could begin with how parties campaign for the 2024 regional elections.

Accessibility
Assuring accessibility is one of the most difficult challenges in developing collaboration to build markets. It is difficult due to the government's complex organization of transportation services and the lack of any comprehensive planning. As previously stated, it has taken public complaints to the President just to get roads maintained, and this is only the beginning of proper transportation planning.
Jokowi had to remind the public that three levels of government are responsible for roads (Syarawie, 2023). The system is not yet in place for planning of overall connectivity and mobility, and no overall accountability for accessibility and mobility on roads. As most traffic in rural areas, even on national roads, is regional by nature, leading to and from regional cities and ports, it is logical that such plans be based on provinces, and address all forms of transportation in an integrated way, so that one person, the Governor, can be accountable for connectivity and mobility, even it many agencies are in charge of different parts of the network. Such governance will be empowering for communities.

Availability of land and sustainability
A very critical issue for the long-term plan is policy for allocating land that is needed for and suitable for development, especially when considering climate change. Too often we find industries have developed at unsuitable locations, such as businesses on roads that have not been built for the loads or dimension of trucks that use them, or on roads intended to provide high mobility, but they cause congestion, businesses that pump water from the ground because of lack of water supply.
We trust that long-term plans prepared in 2025 with make projections of the demand for land, both for businesses and for SMEs and assure that such land is available in a way that stops undesirable or unsustainable location of economic activity, and maintains the need to protect the ecology.

Licencing to assure orderliness
Although there has been substantial progress in many regions, most see licensing as a means of enforcing regulations, generating revenue, or exerting pressure on businesses. Licensing should be viewed as a step in the process of creating an orderly economy and environment, as well as the protection of rights, in order to attract businesses to invest wisely while taking community and environmental concerns into account.
The government issued regulations for IMB (now called PBG in the work creation law) in 2007 (Permen PUPR No. 45/PRT/M/2007) and 2010(Permendagri No.32/2010. In these regulations, IMB should be issued on building designs before they may be built to ensure that they are safe, do not violate community rights, and do not harm the environment. When a building is finished in accordance with the IMB, it is awarded a certificate of worthiness. Only a few regions had implemented the regulations by 2014. Most regulated IMB in their local revenue regulation. They had the wrong concept of IMB, failing to see the true public service.
The purpose of licensing is to impose conditions on those who are granted them in order to bring more order to public behavior for the benefit of all. Licenses are useless unless they are enforced. The regional government should ensure that license conditions are met, not to exercise power, but to serve the community by providing a better life.
Furthermore, the general public should be aware of their rights to demand compliance and should be able to demand compliance.

Addressing integrity
When government fails to serve the people, there is a lack of integrity in adhering to the Constitution, which grants the people sovereignty. The author proposed three integrity indicators in 2007 (Podger, 2007). Other than taking from the government budget, corrupt officials and corrupt businesses can steal from the people through land deals, licenses, tax avoidance, and turning a blind eye to abuses, particularly neglecting the environment, which can destroy our future and limit economic opportunities. More emphasis is needed in developing a new green economy to eliminate these other forms of corruption.

…I suggest an Indonesia
It is widely assumed that members of the DPRD spend the majority of their time wheeling and dealing. In response, the DPRD should be given far more responsibility for listening to the people in their electorates and overseeing the government's integrity.
One particular way of promoting this is to establish a tool of DPRD (alat kelengkapan) of kelompok dapil (groups of members from the same

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Owen Main Podger 8 electorate), with an office in their electorate like DPD-RI has Rumah Aspirasi in each province, where members would spend most of their time, reporting the III, INODU and IGOMAN of providing services and enabling the community.

Long-term and medium-term plans
In order to ensure the inclusion of plans for community empowerment, it is essential to incorporate them into the long-term and mediumterm plans that will be finalized in 2025. Moreover, a crucial aspect of preparing these plans is to actively involve and empower the communities themselves, allowing them to provide valuable input. By engaging communities in the planning process, we can ensure that their needs, aspirations, and perspectives are properly taken into account, fostering a more inclusive and sustainable approach to community development.

Political action
Regional Development Planning Agency (Bappeda) is responsible for formulating these plans, which will then be deliberated and agreed upon by the newly elected leaders and representatives in 2024. To ensure meaningful community participation in these plans, it is crucial to establish a strong connection between the community and the electoral process. By actively involving the community in the 2024 elections, we can enable the new leaders and representatives to gain a deep understanding of community expectations and aspirations. This engagement will foster a sense of trust and belief in the authority of the people, ensuring that the plans truly reflect the needs and desires of the community. By emphasizing community participation in the electoral process, we can create a foundation for inclusive governance and effective decision-making that benefits all members of the community.

Recommendations
The most opportune moment to initiate political action is the present, without waiting for changes to specific laws or regulations. Waiting for legal amendments can often delay progress and hinder the momentum required for meaningful change. Instead, by taking action now, we can begin addressing critical issues and advocating for necessary reforms. Political action can encompass various forms, such as grassroots mobilization, community engagement, public awareness campaigns, and peaceful demonstrations. By starting the process without solely relying on legislative changes, we can create a sense of urgency and actively contribute to shaping public opinion, fostering dialogue, and pressuring decision-makers to address pressing concerns. Through collective effort and perseverance, we can effect positive change and contribute to a more just and equitable society.
Recommendation 1. Parties in each region can agree to change their approach to campaigning, candidates can change. They do not have to wait for national party policy. And parties should change their approach to campaigning without waiting for some regulation.
Recommendation 2. The government should not rely on political parties to change their policies. The author recommends that the government prepare guidance for all political parties and candidates on community engagement during the campaign, as well as presenting political platforms on community engagement to begin immediately upon taking office and be included in medium-term and long-term plans.
Recommendation 3. The author recommends that long term plans focus on facing the challenges of creating economic opportunities for all while building a green economy and addressing climate change. And that medium-term plans focus on immediate start to more community engagement for addressing the greatest challenges for our future.
Recommendation 4. Most Indonesia (69%) support for the idea of a climate emergency, including 74% of people under 18 years old (UNDP & University of Oxford, 2021). Long term plans need to address the impact and what mediation is possible. And parties should campaign on how they will learn to understand, plan and act.
Recommendation 5. Local governments must look outside their own regions to take greater responsibility for economic development, building economic collaboration with strategic partners, win collaboration with provincial government and neighbour regions.
Recommendation 6. Most collaboration will be within a province, making the province a commonwealth of local governments, and a blok of economic partnership.
Recommendation 7. In support of Jokowi's policies on licencing, the author recommends a major change of culture. Licenses should help guide investors to investment responsibly, protecting rights of people and providing opportunities for local communities.
Recommendation 8. In order to have responsible economic decentralisation, there must be additional means of assuring accountability and limiting the space where corruption can exist. In 2014 the author wrote (Podger, 2014): …Success came to the anti-corruption initiative when champions were put in charge, and worked with community support. Success comes in reforms in local government also when there is strong stakeholder participation in order to plan best for the needs of the people… Recommendation 9. Finally, the author recommends Universitas Brawijaya and perhaps all universities in Indonesia should sponsor a series of Public Lectures for candidates to explain what this new political scenario is, and why this time political campaigning must be different. We can imagine Bappeda, local media, local NGOs and local police as partners. We illustrated some topics for such a series: • As development problems are different in every dapil, DPRD candidates should be urged to learn about and address local issues and promise to listen to and represent their local communities. • In order to emphasize economic and environmental issues, candidates to the 2024 campaign should propose who they will collaborate with the local and provincial community and potential overseas markets. • Arguments for parties at the national level to decentralise much party decision-making for the campaign.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT I thank Suahasil Nazara for the push in 2019 to study decentralisation of the economy. Also I acknowledge the role of the late Eddy Purwanto, the first Deputy Secretary of the Vice President for Governance (Tata Kelola Pemerintahan) for long discussions about most of the issues in this paper.

DISCLOSURE OF CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
No conflicts of interests are known to the author.

FUND RESOURCING
No funding was provided for writing this paper.