Volume 12, Number 1, June 2004

Factionalism and Secession in North Sulawesi Province, Indonesia

This article begins with an analysis of the national programme of economic decentralisation and regional autonomy that was introduced in Indonesia in 2001. It discusses the impact of decentralisation in North Sulawesi Province by examining the changes in its ethnic and religious composition during 1998-2001 and the consequences of these changes. Unlike other provinces in Indonesia, North Sulawesi has not experienced any ethnic and religious conflict as it is dominated by Christians and protected from attacks by Muslim organisations by four Christian militias. However, the decentralisation programme has strengthened the regencies at the expense of the provinces and can result in a third generation of conflicts in Indonesia between the provincial governments and the regencies, and between the regencies themselves.

Michael Jacobsen , Ph.D., is Senior Researcher at the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, Copenhagen, Denmark.