Good Governance in Administrative Decentralization in Dili Municipality, Timor-Leste

Lidia Correia da Cruz; Rachmawati Novaria; Achluddin Ibnu Rochim

doi:10.55927/metropolis.v1i5.580

Authors

Lidia Correia da Cruz Universitas 17 Agustus 1945 Surabaya
Rachmawati Novaria Universitas 17 Agustus 1945 Surabaya
Achluddin Ibnu Rochim Universitas 17 Agustus 1945 Surabaya

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55927/metropolis.v1i5.580

Keywords:

Good Governance, Administrative Decentralization, Accountability, Pseudo-Participation, Dili Municipality

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the actualization of good governance principles within the context of administrative decentralization in the Dili Municipality, Timor-Leste. As the national capital and the barometer for national decentralization, Dili faces complex challenges in the transition from centralism to autonomy. This research employs a descriptive qualitative method with a case study approach. Data collection was conducted through in-depth interviews with the Municipal Administrator, ministry officials, community leaders, and NGOs, reinforced by observation and documentation studies. Data analysis utilized the interactive model by Miles, Huberman, and Saldana. The research findings indicate that the implementation of good governance has experienced a fundamental systemic failure. The principle of accountability is distorted by total fiscal dependence (99%) on the central government, creating strong vertical accountability but weak social accountability. Transparency is ceremonial without the provision of substantive data. Public participation is trapped at the level of tokenism, and the rule of law is weakened by a culture of neo-patrimonialism. The novelty of this research lies in the identification of an "administrative trap" where decentralization procedures are operational but fail to produce substantive autonomy due to the absence of fiscal and political decentralization

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