ABSTRACT
Right on the heels of cries for reformasi that saw the end of President Suharto's 32-year reign, the next President Yusuf Habibie started formulating policies that would address the dissatisfaction of many of Indonesia's people, especially those residing outside of the ‘centre’, in regions that felt in varying ways neglected or exploited by New Order policy. The main way to address this dissatisfaction was through laws that would create what has come to be known as ‘regional autonomy’, otonomi daerah. Not a new idea, but an idea that has taken a particular shape in the context of post-New Order Indonesia, ‘regional autonomy’ has been encoded in two laws, amendments to the constitution, that map out the guarantee of political and fiscal autonomy. These two new laws, however, are quite vague in their implementation and, as Bell states, the relationship between these two laws, and many other already existing laws, has yet to be addressed (2001:11). The vagueness and ambiguity of the laws has led to many different ideas and interpretations of what otda (an acronym for otonomi daerah) will mean, both for people living in the daerah, as well as those living outside of their regions of origin.
