Depok, February 28, 2024 – During the doctoral promotion hearing in Administrative Sciences held at the EDISI 2020 Auditorium, 4th floor of the M Building at FIA UI Depok, Dr. Alma’ Arif emphasized the importance of reconstructing the administration of general government affairs, citing her research findings that reveal the suboptimal implementation of these affairs in Indonesia.

Dr. Alma’ successfully defended her dissertation and earned her doctorate, becoming the 51st doctoral graduate from the Faculty of Administrative Sciences and the 239th in the field of Administrative Sciences, with the distinction of Cum Laude.

Her research also includes an analysis of policy weaknesses related to general government affairs as regulated under Law Number 23 of 2014 on Regional Governance and efforts to develop a more appropriate model for the administration of general government affairs within the context of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI).

In her dissertation titled Reconstructing the Administration of General Government Affairs in the Government of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia, Dr. Alma’ identified several causes of inefficiencies in the administration of these affairs.

“The causes include the complexity of institutions managing general government affairs, limited resources, lack of socialization and coordination in implementation, unclear positioning of sub-districts as executors, excessive workload on provincial government apparatus, and weaknesses in the presidential system,” Dr. Alma’ explained.

She also highlighted weaknesses in Law Number 23 of 2014, particularly regarding the delegation of authority to Governors as Representatives of the Central Government (GWPP), who can only execute absolute and concurrent affairs under the jurisdiction of the central government.

“Moreover, the designation of the governor as the sole government representative in overseeing and supervising regency/municipal governments excludes regents and mayors. Additionally, the dual role of government representatives also functioning as regional apparatus creates overcapacity. The budget allocation for the administration of general government affairs is also inconsistent,” she elaborated.

According to Dr. Alma’, the appropriate model for administering general government affairs in the context of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia is to separate the roles of the regional head and the government representative under a non-integrated prefectural system, supported by consistent resource allocation.

“This research was conducted during a period when the administration of general government affairs continuously evolved under a government representative institutional framework facing ongoing pressures for change. This framework is now regulated under Law Number 23 of 2014. However, the development of this system did not emerge suddenly analytical reach and data collection may not fully capture the system’s evolution, which is known to be an adoption from the Dutch East Indies rather than an original system of the Indonesian nation state,” Dr. Alma’ noted, addressing the study’s limitations.

The doctoral promotion hearing was chaired by Prof. Dr. Teguh Kurniawan, M.Sc., with Prof. Dr. Irfan Ridwan Maksum, M.Si. serving as the main promoter and Dr. Achmad Lutfi, M.Si. as co-promoter.

The examination committee included Prof. Dr. Djoehermansyah Djohan, M.A., Prof. Muchlis Hamdi, MPA, Ph.D., Prof. Dr. Eko Prasojo, Mag.rer.publ., Prof. Dr. Milla Sepliana Setyowati, M.Ak., Dr. Roy Valiant Salomo, M.Soc.Sc.