Regional Head Retreat Expected to be a Moment to Absorb Aspirations

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – The retreat plan for regional heads inaugurated by President Prabowo Subianto is scheduled to take place in Magelang, from February 21-28, 2025. Not only to strengthen coordination with the central government, this activity is also expected to be a moment to absorb regional aspirations so that the government is not centralized.

Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Bima Arya Sugiarto explained that the number of regional heads who will carry out the retreat reaches 505, ranging from governors, regents, to mayors. They come from regions that do not have disputes in the Constitutional Court or whose cases did not continue based on a dismissal decision.

Based on the information received in Jakarta, Sunday (9/1/2025), Bima stated that the inauguration of regional heads will be directly led by President Prabowo Subianto and is scheduled for February 20, 2025. The following day, the regional heads will move to Magelang with one of the options being to gather at the Yogyakarta Presidential Palace.

"There are several options. One of them is gathering at this point (Presidential Palace). Earlier, the Head of the Palace was also very agreeable because it is indeed very feasible here," said Bima from the Presidential Palace in Yogyakarta, Ngupasan Village, Gondomanan District, Yogyakarta City, Special Region of Yogyakarta.

According to Bima, the retreat will be conducted for a week, so it is planned to last until February 28, 2025. During that week, the regional heads will receive various materials related to different matters.

This includes, among other things, the main duties and functions of regional heads, the Astacita Program presented by the relevant minister, and training from the National Resilience Institute (Lemhannas). In addition, the Ministry of Finance will also provide an understanding regarding local government support in budget efficiency.

According to Bima, Magelang was chosen as the location because it has been prepared by President Prabowo as a training site for regional heads. Additionally, the facilities and infrastructure available in Magelang are considered adequate and support budget efficiency.

The location of this regional leaders' retreat, Bima continued, is the same place where the Merah Putih Cabinet retreat was held at the Military Academy, Magelang. "Starting from the Merah Putih Cabinet retreat, the place is already there. So, rather than spending the budget on another location, it is more effective and efficient to hold it there. The tents that are available have already been prepared and were previously used by the ministers there," said Bima.

The activity refers to the retreat held from October 24-27, 2024. The agenda included training and briefings for all ministers and deputy ministers. At that time, Prabowo stated that the retreat was necessary to align discipline and loyalty to the nation and the state.

Executive Director of the Regional Autonomy Implementation Monitoring Committee (KPPOD) Herman N Suparman said that the hope for the nation and state also emerged in the regional head retreat plan. Solutions to improve communication between the center and regions are expected to be present at the meeting.

"Although I consider this activity inefficient amidst the tightening of the state budget, I hope that there is a solution that can be achieved amidst the problems in synchronizing the center and regions. Therefore, this activity should not only have one-way communication, but two-way communication when the central government hears the aspirations of the regional heads," said Herman.

Herman assessed that so far there have been three main lines in the synchronization of the center and regions, namely related to the relationship of authority, finance, and coaching-supervision. The authority between the center and the regions, he continued, is often not in line so that the performance of the regional government is not optimal. Meanwhile, financial relations in the context of transfers to the regions are still thick with centralization amidst the spirit of regional autonomy.

"This is more related to fiscal. We see that the relationship between central and regional finances has a strong aroma of centralization, such as mandatory spending (spending regulated by law) related to employee spending, infrastructure spending, and several other sectoral regulations," Herman said.

Regarding coaching and supervision, Herman saw the central government applying the same pattern to all regions. In fact, each region has different problems and human resource capacities.

"The expected Binwas (guidance and supervision) is asymmetrical. Don't let regional guidance in Java be the same as in eastern Indonesia. That will not run optimally. I hope that in the regional head retreat later, this issue can be discussed by listening to the aspirations of the elected regional heads," said Herman.