TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:In its latest report titled Indonesia: Defying the State, the International Crisis Group has suggested that Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono needs to act more firmly against institutions and officials that defy national court rulings or his inaction risks prolonging local conflicts. The report details how an impact of the country’s decentralisation drive has been the emergence of regional politicians willing to defy the courts for short-term political gain. Jakarta’s response has been to dither and hope the problem will go away, encouraging more insubordination. “Allowing local officials to defy courts sends the message that the power of the majority in a region can take precedence over institutions of justice in a way that emboldens mobs and threatens minorities”, says Achmad Sukarsono, Crisis Group’s South East Asia Analyst. “It hurts the prospects of local conflict resolution and ultimately undermines Indonesia’s democracy”. The report briefing examines three cases of local defiance. In West Kotawaringin, Central Kalimantan, councillors have been defying a Constitutional Court ruling that disqualified the winner of the district’s election on grounds of vote-buying and gave the defeated incumbent a second term. The district chief currently cannot govern properly and opponents burned down his official residence. In Bogor and Bekasi in West Java, local executives, pandering to conservative Muslims, have denied permits for church construction although courts had overruled their objections. Tensions flare whenever Christians hold services at the disputed sites. In each case, the central government failed to enforce compliance with court rulings and allowed resistance to escalate, sometimes violently. When tensions erupted to the point of attracting media attention, Jakarta sought negotiation and compromise rather than upholding constitutional principles and judicial authority. But when these efforts failed, the authority of the president and the courts was weakened. To read more of the report, please go to www.crisisgroup.org. ******