Journal of Contemporary Governance and Public Policy, 4 (1) April 2023, 75-96
ISSN: 2722-3981 (Print), ISSN: 2722-3973 (Online)
Available Online at https://journal.ppishk.org/index.php/jcgpp

Conflict of Interest in the Expansion of Sofifi City
in North Maluku, Indonesia
Risman A.M Djen1*, Zuly Qodir2
1 Master of Government Affairs and Administration, Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta, Indonesia
2 Department of Government Studies, Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta, Indonesia

*Corresponding Author Email: djenrisman03@gmail.com

Received: 5 January 2023; Revised: 1 March 2023; Accepted: 2 March 2023

Abstract
Since its 24 years as the capital city of North Maluku province, Sofifi has not had the
status of an autonomous region. This study aims to analyse the causes of the emergence
of Sofifi's expansion conflict. This study uses a qualitative method with a case study
approach. The data sources in this study came from journal articles and online media,
which were processed using NVivo 12 Plus. The findings in this study indicate that Sofifi's
conflict is a conflict of interest over the struggle for political power and the potential for
natural resources by political elites. Even so, the community's demand for the division of
Sofifi was based on three things: the reality of backwardness in development, the lack of
public services, and the fact that Sofifi is the provincial capital. The emergence of
demands for division has given rise to a response of rejection; the refusal is because of
the announcement of the Sultanate of Tidore. In addition, there are differences in
development governance between the provincial government and the Sultan of Tidore.
Later, the Tidore City government also used the argument of a moratorium from the
central government to dampen demands for division. This study's conclusion explains
the interest in the struggle for power and natural resources behind the emergence of the
Sofifi expansion conflict. This study confirms that regional autonomy conflicts tend to be
caused by conflicts over power and natural resources that take advantage of ethnicity.
Keywords: Conflict; Elite Politics; Regional Autonomy
Copyright © 2023 by Authors, Published by Pusat Penelitian Ilmu Sosial dan Humaniora
Kontemporer, Indonesia. This is an open access article under the CC BY-SA License
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0).
How to Cite: Djen, R. A.M., & Qodir, Z. (2023). Conflict of Interest in the Expansion of Sofifi City in North
Maluku, Indonesia. Journal of Contemporary Governance and Public Policy, 4(1), 75-96.
https://doi.org/10.46507/jcgpp.v4i1.101
Permalink/DOI: https://doi.org/10.46507/jcgpp.v4i1.101

Introduction
Over the last five years, several countries have experienced conflicts in autonomous
regions caused by various factors. This is similar to research (Miley & Garvía, 2019),
which explains a conflict between three parties, namely regional nationalists, the central
government, and immigrant workers in Catalonia, Spain (Kuzina, 2019). As a country that
has also implemented decentralisation with 17 autonomous communities parallel to the
province, the conflict in Catalonia was caused by ethnic identity and discrimination of the
working class locally, which eventually formed dissatisfaction and led to the proindependence movement (Balcells & Kuo, 2021). The existence of conflicting interests
has shifted the function of democratisation to a system of decentralisation of power in
autonomous regions. Ultimately, the aspirations for welfare tend to be difficult to realise
(Montecinos, 2020).
Apart from Spain, countries implementing federalism systems, such as India, also
show the same problem, for example in Mizoram, Northeast India. Autonomy or
regionalization in the form of states does not make them prosperous (Saitluanga,
Hmangaihzela, & Lalfakzuala, 2022). The fact is that there are still many imbalances
caused by ethnic conflicts and the unequal distribution of justice for the Mizoram tribe
(Gogoi, 2021). Therefore, the purpose of regional autonomy, or regionalism, which was
initially intended to prosper and strengthen the democratic agenda, actually happened
the opposite (Ramanzini Junior, Mariano, & Gonçalves, 2022).
Other facts can also be seen, as happened in Balochistan, a province in Pakistan (Gill,
Javaid, Murtza, Batool, & Jamil, 2021), that the political tendency of ethnicity in the
autonomous region has trapped Balochistan in an unequal distribution of resources and
social inequality (Mushtaq & Mirza, 2022). Things like this not only happen in Asian and
Middle Eastern countries but also in Europe, especially in Central and Eastern Europe.
Throughout the centuries, Central and Eastern Europe saw frequent border changes and
various ethnic conflicts (Barwiński, 2019). Indonesia is also facing the same problem;
after 24 years of reform, several autonomous regions in Indonesia are still far from
decentralisation expectations. North Maluku Province is one example of an autonomous
region still experiencing a conflict of interest.
North Maluku is a province that has existed since Law Number 46 of 1999. The
Provisional Capital City of North Maluku is set at Sofifi, one of the sub-districts in the City
of Tidore Islands. After being designated the capital city of North Maluku Province in
1999, Sofifi is still far from being worthy of being the provincial capital. The lack of
construction of facilities and infrastructure has made most state civil servants prefer to
live in Ternate and Tidore rather than in Sofifi (CNN Indonesia, 2021).
The slow pace of development in Sofifi and the lack of optimal public services in Oba
District, especially in Sofifi, have led to an assumption among the community that Sofifi
needs legal status as a new autonomous region. However, there was a conflict of interest
between political elites in North Maluku regarding the expansion of the city of Sofifi,
which has hampered the acceleration of development and social welfare in Sofifi (Wijaya,
Abd Radjak, & Muluk, 2021).

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Administrative ambiguity has resulted in a slow development process in the Sofifi
area, even though it has been explained in Article 20 of Law Number 46 of 1999
concerning the Expansion of North Maluku that while waiting for the readiness of
adequate facilities and infrastructure in Sofifi, the North Maluku Provincial Capital, as
referred to in Article 9 Paragraph (1), temporarily stipulated in Ternate, and within five
years at the latest, the definitive Capital City of North Maluku Province has functioned.
However, after 22 years running, Sofifi still hasn't proven its worth as a provincial capital.
In analysing conflict factors and the involvement of political elites in Sofifi, this
study uses two theories as an approach. These theories are the theory of political elites
and social conflict, as said by Niel (2009), who said that the word elite in Indonesia can
be classified into traditional and modern elite. Traditional elites are cosmologically
oriented and hereditary. At the same time, the modern elite is more oriented towards the
country's prosperity and based on educational status. Modern elites can also be divided
into two types, namely functional elites and political elites. Functional elites can be seen
based on the legitimacy of power, which is oriented towards serving the country. At the
same time, the political elite is made up of people who are involved in political activities.
Meanwhile, the author uses social conflict theory to see the conflict of interest in
Sofifi's expansion plan. According to Pruitt & Rubin (2011), conflict is a difference in
perceptions about interests (perceived divergence of interest). Interests are related to
people's feelings about what is desired, and these feelings tend to be central in people's
thoughts and actions, which form the core of many attitudes, goals, and intentions.
In the book by Gurr (1970), it can be seen that differences in interests greatly
influence the emergence of social conflict. Gurr provides a psychological approach to
elaborate on how collective discontent is manifested as political violence by providing an
aggression-frustration mechanism (Naazer et al., 2017). Gurr said that the anger created
by shortcomings due to efforts to hinder the interests of others is a motivational tool that
drives humans to aggression.
Unlike the case with Gurr, research from Pruitt & Rubin (2011) has a different
perception of the source or cause of conflict. Pruitt & Rubin (2011) divide the sources of
conflict into several parts. First, Pruitt and Rubin consider that conflict occurs not
because of a gap between aspirations and achievements but because when aspirations
increase, these aspirations will increasingly conflict with the aspirations of other parties.
Such conflict is inseparable from the need to rule.
According to Pruitt & Rubin (2011), the source of the second conflict is a conflict
that occurs because of the need for respect. Further research (Rubin, Pruitt, & Kim, 1994)
explains that past achievements will form an aspiration that demands respect. If
achievement has gone up in the past, then aspirations will go up, too. If achievement has
been going down, then aspirations will go down, too.
Batterbury, Kowasch, & Bouard (2020) say that the need for power, respect, and
money are all things that can cause conflict. Economic needs are basic needs that cannot
be separated from resources (Guan, Kirikkaleli, Bibi, & Zhang, 2020). According to Pruitt
& Rubin (2011), conflict depends on limited resources (Scheidel et al., 2020). Time,

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77

money, natural resources, vehicles, or whatever is needed but is in limited supply
(Bebbington, Fash, & Rogan, 2018).
This is like the theory of natural resource conflicts explained by Homer-Dixon
(Masarah, 2021) that natural resource conflicts tend to be caused by scarcity of natural
resources. When natural resources are scarce, massive migration will occur from areas
where they are scarce to areas with access to natural resources. This migration tends to
create different values for resource management, which can trigger conflict (Vanegas,
2021).
In previous research, three factors were underlying the conflict in North Maluku.
The first factor is the conflict of political elites, which refers to the conflict of power. Qodir
(2016) has explained that North Maluku has a uniqueness that is seldom found in other
regions, namely the conflict between the political elite, which is so strong. Elite conflict is
nothing new in North Maluku. Several conflicts in North Maluku are inseparable from the
role of political elites who fight for their respective interests.
Power struggles between political elites can't be separated from the past, which is
where power struggles have always happened. Ternate controls the kingdom and ethnic
groups in the plains of Halmahera and the islands around it by working together with
European trading partners like the Portuguese, Spanish, British, and Dutch. The
dominance of the Sultanate of Ternate over three other kingdoms, such as Jailolo, Tidore,
and Bacan, as well as small kingdoms and local leaders from ethnic groups living in North
Maluku, showed that among these kingdoms that showed the most resistance to the
Sultanate of Ternate was the Sultanate of Tidore, which later became Ternate's main rival
in seizing supreme power in North Maluku (Amal, 2007). Kurjanska (2019) has said that
forming political elites is part of the This historical conflict for power by political elites
also applies to the Sofifi case. Other research by Hasim (2018) says that the movement to
prosecute the expansion of the city of Sofifi cannot be separated from the role of the local
political elite. The dissatisfaction among the public tends to be caused by various factors,
namely, decreased quality of life, economic disparities, public security, and public sector
services. This dissatisfaction caused the movement to demand the expansion of Sofifi,
which was supported by local elites and emerged as a massive movement. Some of these
studies show that elite political conflict contributed to many of the triggers for the conflict
in North Maluku. This event bears similarities to the case in Spain of dissatisfaction with
central government intervention, which had formed a regional identity that led to
demands for independence (Batterbury et al., 2020).
A conflict resulting from natural resources is the second conflict. In the history of
the conflict in North Maluku, North Maluku has been an area where natural resource
conflicts have occurred, such as in 1999. At that time, the conflict started with local
transmigration in 1975 in the North Maluku region, which had the status of a District
Level II region. Local transmigration of residents in several villages in the Makian Pulau
District who were transferred to the Kao District area, where the PT. Nusa Halmahera
Minerals is located (Hasyim, 2010). This local transmigration was carried out because of
the danger posed by the eruption of Mount Kie Besi on Makian Island. Still, local

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transmigration policies were also inseparable from the interests of natural resources in
mining areas (Fischer, 2020).
In the case of Sofifi, it was explained that the demands and rejection of Sofifi's
division led to conflicts over managing natural resources. This happened because Sofifi
contributed half of the local revenue (PAD) in the City of Tidore Islands. In 2010, the local
revenue of Tidore City reached 8 billion Rupiah, and Sofifi was a region that contributed
4 billion Rupiah to the PAD of Tidore City. The existence of natural resources in the
agricultural and service sectors has made Sofifi a contested area. Cases like this occurred
in West America from 1990 to 2000 (Martin et al., 2019).
The last factor in conflict is ethnic differences and competition. According to
research by Aini (2012), ethnicity, religion, and primordial solidarity sometimes become
tools used by political elites to trigger conflict. In this case, regional expansion tends to
become a new arena of conflict, where the initial goal of decentralisation to improve local
communities' welfare is being ignored. Regional expansion has sparked conflicts in
various regions due to issues of ethnicity (Devetak, 2018).
Several facts indicate that the Makian people moved into the Kao people's customs
territory, which is also where the mining company operations did not cause any problems
at first. Still, the local political elite pushed for the creation of the Malifut District through
Government Regulation Number 42 of 1999. This is when the conflict started, as the Kao
people felt that their traditional land had been taken over by the government. At that
time, the Makian ethnic people had more influence on many sectors of life in North
Maluku, for example, in aspects of government, bureaucracy, and even education
(Nataniel, 2019).
The formation of the Malifut sub-district, which was occupied by people from
Makian Island who were transferred to Kao, made the situation even more heated.
Finally, the conflict in North Maluku could not be avoided (Bakri, Madjid, & Irsyadi, 2020).
The conflict stems from the rejection of the Kao community towards forming the Malifut
District, which is occupied by the Makian tribe community and will be fought for to
become the Malifut Regency in the future (Safi, 2017).
According to research by Umagapi (2017), the conflict in Sofifi was a result of the
Tidore ethnic group's envy of the Makian ethnic group's expansion. Sofifi is in North
Maluku Province. This resulted in the Tidore ethnic group not wanting a certain ethnicity
to dominate Sofifi. That is because the Makian ethnic group has controlled the provincial
government.
The problem of the conflict over the expansion of Sofifi City is an essential topic for
describing the culture of the political elite in North Maluku. So to analyse the gap or
novelty in this study with previous research, the author uses the Vosviewer analysis tool.
Data from previous research was sourced from several scientific article documents
included in the Scopus database (http://www.scopus.com/). (TITLE-ABS-KEY (conflict)
AND TITLE-ABS-KEY (regional AND autonomy)) are the keywords used in the Scopus
search field. The search results in the Scopus database totaled 400 documents. The
journal articles were analysed using Vosviewer software to identify research gaps and
novelties, which can be seen in Figure 1.
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Figure 1. Research Mapping of Regional Autonomy Conflicts
Source: Scopus Article Mapping Using VOSviewer (2022)
Figure 1 shows that regional autonomy has caused many conflicts (Pettersson,
Högbladh, & Öberg, 2019). Regional autonomy has strengthened political identity and
territorial issues (Istania, 2022). However, from the results of research mapping using a
bibliometric analysis approach using Scopus data with the help of the VOSviewer
software, it can be seen that research on the involvement of political elites in regional
autonomy conflicts, especially in Sofifi, North Maluku Province, is still rarely carried out.
In simple terms, there are two main reasons why this research is essential. First,
there is a wrong interpretation of regional autonomy in Indonesia, especially in North
Maluku. Regional autonomy, which should be part of a democratisation agenda to restore
people's rights to participation in development and social welfare, has instead shifted to
become a means of serving the interests of the political elite. This is because local political
elites have dominated all forms of policy and decision-making regarding regional
development. The second reason is the conflict of interest among the local political elite
in North Maluku, which has prolonged the polemic over the expansion plan in Sofifi City.
This has an impact on the slow development process in North Maluku.
Therefore, this study aims to analyse the conflicts that occurred in Sofifi, especially
the conflict over the expansion plan for Sofifi City in North Maluku Province. This
research will look at the conflict actors and analyse the conflict of interest in the division
of Sofifi in North Maluku.

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Research Methods
In this research, the type of research used is qualitative research with a case study
approach. According to Creswell (2015), case study research is a qualitative approach
whose research tends to explore three things, namely real life, contemporary limited
systems (cases), or various limited systems (various cases), through detailed and indepth data collection and involve many sources of information. The data sources in this
study came from journal articles and online media, which were processed using NVivo 12
Plus. The method in this study is intended to describe the data obtained systematically,
accurately, and regarding the facts contained in a news text by the media. The source of
this research data was obtained through online media and previous research documents
related to the Sofifi Expansion conflict in North Maluku Province.
Data were obtained using the Nvivo 12 plus Ncapture feature. The N capture feature
is a web browser extension developed to capture web content in the form of website
content, social media content, and scientific articles. Nvivo 12 Plus analysis uses the
crosstab query analysis feature, which is for viewing the percentage of data that has been
coded manually using Nvivo 12 Plus. Furthermore, the author uses a concept map to
analyse and visualise the network of actors involved and their attitudes towards the
planned expansion of the city of Sofifi. In the table, you can see online media taken as a
data source.
Table 1. Online Media Data Sources
Source: Processed by Authors (2022)
News Name
Antaranews
CNN Indonesia
Kompas
Kumparan
Timesindonesia
Liputan6
Gamalamanews
Kieraha
Halmaherapost
Harianhalmahera
Indotimur
Nusantaratimur
Poskomalut
Suaraternate
Tandaseru

Website
National Media
https://www.antaranews.com/
https://www.cnnindonesia.com/
https://www.kompas.com/
https://www.Kumparan.com/
https://www.timesindonesia.co.id/
https://www.liputan6.com/
Local Media
https://gamalamanews.com/
https://kieraha.com/
https://halmaherapost.com/
https://harianhalmahera.com/
https://indotimur.com/
https://www.nusantaratimur.com/
https://poskomalut.com/
https://ternate.pikiran-rakyat.com/
https://www.tandaseru.com/
Total

Journal of Contemporary Governance and Public Policy

Number of News
9
1
5
1
4
2
1
2
2
10
3
2
11
4
4
58

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Table 1 shows that the author analyses around 15 online media. These online media
were selected based on the list of media included in the top best online media in the
Indonesia version of Alexa.com, then based on the database at the Press Council
(dewanpers.or.id), which shows that the online media that is the source of this data is
media that has accountability because the human resources in the media have been
certified and passed the Journalist Competency Test. Some of these media also have
media companies that are legal entities and have been referenced in the 4th quarter 2020
public relations report from the North Maluku Province financial and development
supervision agency (BPKP, 2020). The news that the author uses as data is from the
media, with reports related to the issue of the conflict over the expansion of the city of
Sofifi in the period 1 January 2018–31 December 2022. In table 1, some media only have
one news item and are used as data by the authors, such as Cnnindonesia.com,
Kumparan.com, and Gamalamanews.com. That's because the news published by the
media is essential data that, according to the author, should be used as data in this study.
The online media that the author chose can be classified into two types based on
their coverage: national media and local media in North Maluku Province. National media
is media whose scale of issues covers national issues and is spread across all regions in
Indonesia. Meanwhile, the local media only focuses on issues in North Maluku. The reason
for choosing these six online media on a national scale to be research reference material
is because these six online media are included in the top best online media in Indonesia
based on a survey conducted by Alexa.com.
Meanwhile, the reason for choosing nine online media on a local scale is that local
online media are more oriented to local issues than national or international issues, so
they contain more news about problems at the local level (Carlson, 2015). Data analysis
begins with capturing data using the Nvivo 12 Plus feature. Next, the author imports the
collected data into Nvivo 12 Plus and performs data coding. After the data is coded, it
displays and analyses the data. Some data analysis menus are in the form of a crosstab
query, which aims to see the tendency of discourse. Next is the concept map menu, which
aims to describe the relationship between actors.
Results and Discussion
Conflicts over Sofifi City Decision as Provincial Capital
As was already said, Law Number 46 of 1999 splits North Maluku into two parts.
Since North Maluku was divided, there were only two regencies, namely Central
Halmahera Regency and North Maluku Regency (currently changing its name to West
Halmahera Regency). There is also one city, namely the City of Ternate. In determining
the provincial capital at that time, the government formed a team from Commission II of
the Indonesian House of Representatives to review several names of prospective capital
cities worthy of being the capital of North Maluku Province. The names of the capital cities
are Goal and Sidangoli, which are in the North Maluku Regency, and Sofifi, which is in the
Central Halmahera Regency. Based on various considerations, Sofifi was chosen as the

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capital of North Maluku Province. However, due to the inadequate readiness of facilities
and infrastructure, the temporary capital had to be located in Ternate City (Kieraha,
2019).
The election of Sofifi as the provincial capital cannot be separated from studying the
archipelago's development, including geographical aspects. At that time, the government
also brought in researchers from the Bogor Agricultural Institute to study the feasibility
of the names of the candidates for the capital city, namely Sofifi, Sidangoli, and Goal. The
result is still Sofifi, who is considered more worthy. In addition, the government at that
time also saw that the city of Ternate, which was already more developed, was not
geographically feasible enough to become the provincial capital. Sofifi was also chosen
because it is a link to other regions geographically. It is hoped that this will become a link
in the supply chain for agricultural production, especially on land. Apart from that, the
security aspect is also a consideration in determining the provincial capital. Sofifi is
deemed worthy because it can reach a lot of people when turmoil or conflict occurs (Hiar,
2017).
Not only does the location of the provincial capital have to make sense from a
practical standpoint, but politics also play a big role in deciding where the capital city of
North Maluku Province will be. In this case, political considerations mean protecting the
interests of power in the capital city. Since then, the struggle for the status of the
provincial capital has begun to be seen. The struggle occurred between the Sultanate of
Ternate and the Central Halmahera Regency Government. The Sultanate of Ternate at
that time recommended that the provincial capital be placed in Sidangoli. That was
because Sidangoi was an expansion area of the Sultanate of Ternate. However, the
government of Central Halmahera has a different recommendation. The government of
Central Halmahera wants Sofifi to become the provincial capital because Sofifi is included
in the administrative area of Central Halmahera (Wijaya, Abd Radjak, & Muluk, 2021).
However, at that time, Central Halmahera, which historically was still in the
expansion area of the Tidore Sultanate, received consideration from the Tidore Sultanate,
which at that time did not want Sofifi to be separated from Tidore if it had the status of a
capital city. The fears of the Tidore Sultanate were immediately brushed aside by elite
political actors. Verbally, the political elite at that time gave an understanding that,
indeed, the capital city was in Sofifi. However, Sofifi was still part of Tidore City, and the
centre of the city government was still in Tidore, namely in the Soasio Village. The
Sultanate of Tidore holds this to support the placement of the capital city of North Maluku
Province in Sofifi. (Tandaseru, 2021).
In 1999, the regional government of North Maluku Regency and the central
government did not agree to the Sultanate of Ternate's request to put the capital city of
North Maluku province in Sidangoli. This made the Sultanate of Ternate unhappy with
policies that tended to hurt the Sultanate of Ternate politically. Before the conflict of
interest occurred, a conflict of interests had already occurred between the Sultan of
Ternate, who Mudaffar Syah then held, and opponents of the Sultanate of Ternate. At that
time, the Sultan of Ternate was supported by the traditional council from Ternate, Jailolo,
and Kao. Meanwhile, the opponents of the Sultan of Ternate were supported by some
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North Maluku people, whose important figures were Bahar Andili, Abdullah Assagaf,
Thaib Armayn, and other local elites, including the Sultan of Tidore.
In a conference to provide input to the Minister of Home Affairs in Jakarta in the
context of the upcoming MPR session, proposals for the division of the province to be
named the North Maluku province have begun to be heard. This suggestion was made by
Syaiful Bachri Ruray, who was also inseparable from the request of the Regent of Central
Halmahera, Bahar Andili. At the end of President Habibi's leadership, North Maluku was
finally divided into a province through Law Number 46 of 1999 (Klinken, 2007).
After the formation of North Maluku province, an elite political conflict finally
emerged. In this case, there is a tug-of-war between the two camps. The first camp was
from the Sultanate of Ternate, and the other camp was from groups that opposed the
Sultan of Ternate. One of the visible conflicts of interest is the determination of the name
of the province; the Sultan of Ternate wanted the name of the province to be Maluku
Province (Kie Raha). In contrast, the opposing group wanted the name North Maluku
Province, which has been used until now. Not choosing the Maluku name Kie Raha as the
name of the province signifies the defeat of the Sultan of Ternate (Safi, 2017). Political
elites try to take advantage of ethnic power, which has changed the role of regional
autonomy. Research by Qodir (2012) shows that the political problem of division in North
Maluku is caused by the fact that there are still many interests of ethnic sentiments and
dominant groups instead of politics that care about the welfare, prosperity, and security
of the general public.
This fact also illustrates that implementing the regional autonomy system does not
always go as planned. Several regions in Indonesia that implement regional autonomy
are still faced with identity problems (Ruslan & Hakiki, 2022). For example, some regions
are politically autonomous and formed based on ethnicity. That creates a particular case
of accommodative policies regarding the decentralisation or devolution of power to
ethnic groups that focus on territorial identity (Panov & Semenov, 2018).
The Emergence of Demands for Expansion of the Sofifi City
The reasons underlying the plan for the expansion of Sofifi as an autonomous region
are very diverse. These demands were born from elements of the community and from
the legislature at the provincial level, which considered that, as the capital city of North
Maluku Province, Sofifi deserved to be divided into Sofifi City. This assumption is
considered to have come from several problems in the Sofifi area.
In figure 2, based on processed data from online media using NVivo 12 Plus, it was
explained that the reasons for supporting or being in favour of the expansion of the city
of Sofifi were due to several things, namely the first was due to reasons for development
backwardness, the second was related to the status of the capital city, and the third was
the lack of public services in Sofifi. The underdevelopment here means that the
underdevelopment of infrastructure development in Sofifi became one of the reasons for
the prosecution and support for the expansion of the city of Sofi. Reasons like this are also
related to supporting the division of North Maluku into provinces in 1999 (Teng, 2022).

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Developmental Backwardness

54.00%

Capital City Status

31.00%

Lack of Public Services
0.00%

15.00%
10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

Figure 2. The Reasons for the Expansion of Sofifi City
Source: Analysis Using Nvivo12 Plus (2022)
Underdevelopment in development has the highest percentage for the emergence
of the idea of Sofifi's Expansion, namely 54.0%. That was reinforced by the statement of
the Minister of Home Affairs, namely Tito Karnavian, that infrastructure development
such as governor's offices, court offices, military command resorts, mosques, and housing
had indeed been carried out, but due to the absence of supporting infrastructure such as
roads, hotels, and shopping centres, the state civil servants who work at Sofifi still choose
to live in Ternate and Tidore. So it can be said that the backwardness of development in
Sofifi has become the main reason for support or aspirations for the division of Sofifi as a
new autonomous region. The backwardness of development can also be seen in the
poverty rate, which, based on data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) in Tidore City,
reached 6.52% in 2020. This figure has increased from 2019 at 6.10% and 2018 at 5.95%.
(BPS, 2020).
People from Sofifi or the Oba mainland feel like they are being left behind in terms
of development by the Tidore Islands City Government, which is another reason why they
want to split up. The Tidore City Government once promised the division of the City of
Sofifi and a 60% division of the APBD for Sofifi, but this was never realised. Apart from
that, the uneven development is also evidenced by the demands of the people of Oba SubDistrict, who think that the Tidore City Government is not serious about seeking an even
distribution of development throughout the Oba continent. This statement arose because
while the government of North Maluku Province wanted to establish Sofifi as a special
capital area whose development concentration was also guaranteed by the central
government, the Tidore City government did not make efforts for the Oba and South Oba
areas to be included in development priorities together with Sofifi. That's the reason for
the many proposals for the expansion of Sofifi on the grounds of backward development.
Figure 2 also shows that the reason for the capital city status gets a percentage rate
of 31.00%. The status of the capital city means that support for the expansion of the city
of Sofifi is mandatory because it already has the status of a capital city under Law Number
46 of 1999. The unclear status of Sofifi has become a polemic that continues to be
discussed. The main problem is in Article 20 of Law Number 46 of 1999, which indicates
the completeness of facilities and infrastructure for a capital city.

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In the file of demands from academics and legal practitioners at the Constitutional
Court to review the law on the division of North Maluku, it is considered that the facilities
and infrastructure in question are not only complete physical facilities but also a
complete legal entity that is related to Sofifi's status. The absence of a clear legal entity
related to Sofifi's status has also impacted the last reason regarding support for the
expansion of the city of Sofifi, namely the lack of public services. The presentation rate of
this third factor is known to be 14.00%. That is because the City of Tidore is an island
separated from Sofifi, which tends to hamper several aspects of public services (Ngatmo,
2021).
The Rejection of the Expansion of the Sofifi City
When movements and demands for the expansion of the city of Sofifi emerged, the
rejection of these demands also appeared to confront the interests of certain groups that
wanted the expansion of the city of Sofifi.
Sultanate Notice

54.00%

Moratorium
Differences in the vision of development

29.00%
16.00%

0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00%

Figure 3. The Reasons for Opposing Sofifi City Expansion
Source: Analysis Using Nvivo12 Plus (2022)
The declaration from the sultanate was the most talked-about reason why the city
of Sofifi shouldn't grow. Based on the results of processing data from online media with
NVivo 12 Plus, figure 3 shows that 54.0% of the reasons for rejecting the Sofifi expansion
were based on an imperial decree. In 2010, Sultan Djafar Sjah, who was the 36th Sultan
of Tidore, issued the imperial edict. The proclamation is based on the Tidore Sultanate
edict, document number 01/KT/2010. Sultan Djafar's announcement became the reason
for rejecting the interests of other parties who wanted Sofifi's division so that other
parties had access to be able to control Sofifi.
In the Declaration of the Sultanate of Tidore, three points are discussed. The first
point explains that it will be increasingly difficult to apply local wisdom values to the
indigenous people of the Sultanate of Tidore if there is an expansion of the city of Sofifi.
That's because the expansion of the city of Sofifi will break social and cultural relations if
Sofifi becomes an autonomous region apart from the Tidore Islands. Previous events
evidence this. The expansion of the Tidore Sultanate's power has diminished since 1956.
According to Awaluddin, Faitanu, & Hasan (2016), the Makian and Tidore tribes are the
majority tribes who inhabit the mainland of Oba. Previously, Papua, East Halmahera, and
Central Halmahera had become autonomous regions. So, through this royal decree, the

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Sultanate of Tidore provided an option: if Sofifi wanted to continue to be divided, then
the capital city should be moved to another urban district.
Apart from that, the moratorium was also why the Sofifi DOB was rejected. In Figure
3, the reasons for the moratorium were conveyed to the media and processed through
the NVivo 12 Plus analysis tool, resulting in a presentation rate of 29.0%. The moratorium
in question is a stipulation on postponing the regional expansion plan. This moratorium
was decided during the reign of President Joko Widodo. Until now, around 314 proposals
for new autonomous regions have not been fulfilled. This is because the moratorium aims
to evaluate the area's quality before it is strictly expanded. Reasons for the moratorium
were conveyed to the media and processed through the NVivo 12 Plus analysis tool,
resulting in a presentation rate of 29.0%.
The moratorium in question is a stipulation on postponing the regional expansion
plan. This moratorium was decided during the reign of President Joko Widodo. Until now,
around 314 proposals for new autonomous regions have not been fulfilled. This is
because the moratorium aims to evaluate the area's quality before it is strictly expanded.
This is because each region that wants to be expanded requires a budget of 300 billion
Rupiah per district or city. The currently limited state funds and the increasing number
of demands for expansion from regions that are not eligible for expansion are some of the
reasons for a moratorium from the Central Government.
This expansion moratorium policy is an exception for Papua. That is because the
central government still thinks that the expansion of regions in Papua can support the
acceleration of development in Indonesia. The consideration of the division of Papua is
because Indonesia in its eastern part is still considered too broad with only two
provinces, namely Papua and West Papua. Therefore, the central government approved
the law, which was signed by the president on July 25, 2022 (Ninditya, 2022).
The rejection of division was due to the Tidore Sultanate Declaration and the fact
that the central government had put a stop to it. Because of this, the government had to
come up with a policy for the Special Capital City Area to clarify Sofifi's status. However,
even though Sofifi has been designated as a special capital area, the opportunity to make
Sofifi an autonomous region is still open (Harianhalmahera, 2019).
Lastly, there is the difference in development vision. The percentage figure for the
different variables in the development vision is 16.00%. This difference in development
visions means there are differences of opinion between the Tidore Sultanate and the
North Maluku Provincial Government regarding the direction of Sofifi City's
development. As a capital city area, Sofifi always triggers a tug-of-war in implementing
development. The Sultanate of Tidore once thought that the slow development in Sofifi
was due to the provincial government's intention to make the people understand that
Sofifi had to be split so that it could be built.
Wijaya, Abd Radjak, & Muluk (2021) explained that the Tidore Sultanate has a more
traditional development perspective while adhering to customary and cultural values,
while the North Maluku Provincial Government has another perspective on development,
namely one that is more modern.

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87

Conflict of Interest in the Expansion of the Sofifi City
Different visions regarding the direction of development are a manifestation of a
conflict of interests in the struggle for power in North Maluku Province. In this case, Sofifi,
the capital city area, is only used to symbolise the struggle for power in North Maluku
Province. Something like this had already happened when the Sultanate of Ternate and
the Sultanate of Tidore were also involved in the polemic over determining the capital
city of North Maluku Province.

Figure 4. The Relationship between Actors in the Sofifi City Expansion Conflict
Source: Analysis Using Nvivo12 Plus (2022)
Figure 4 explains that eight categories of actors have a relationship with the conflict
in the demands for the expansion of the city of Sofifi. These categories are the Central
Government, Provincial Government, Regional People's Legislative Council (DPRD) of
North Maluku Province, Tidore City Government, Regional People’s Legislative Council of
Tidore City, Tidore Sultanate, Academics, and Community. To be able to narrate the role
of actors in the conflict over the expansion of the city of Sofifi, the author will describe
them sequentially.
In the conflicted relationship between these actors, it can be seen that the role of
the Regional People's Legislative Council of Tidore Islands City is a top priority that must
be discussed. That is because the division procedure must go through approval or
support from the Regional People's Legislative Council in the main area. In 2010, the
Tidore Islands City held a plenary meeting on the recommendation for the division and
release of Sofifi from the Tidore Islands City. However, the meeting ended due to chaos.
In research by Awaluddin, Faitanu, & Hasan (2016), it was explained that the
commotion during the plenary meeting took place when a group of people on behalf of
the Tidore ethnic group came to the Regional People's Legislative Council of Tidore

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plenary building to protest and obstruct the discussion on the expansion of the city of
Sofifi. Therefore, the discussion regarding the division of Sofifi was not continued for the
reason that it would trigger a conflict. This makes the Regional People's Legislative
Council tend to have a dual attitude. In a sense, some members of the Regional People's
Legislative Council believe they are in line with the Sultan of Tidore to refuse, and others
choose to form an alliance outside the parliament to gather support regarding the
expansion of Sofifi (Hasim, 2018). This hindered the discussion on the expansion of the
city of Sofifi at the plenary session of the Regional People's Legislative Council of North
Maluku Province. Ishak Naser, a member of the Regional People's Legislative Council of
North Maluku Province, said the reason for the discussion on the expansion of Sofifi did
not work due to the fact that the proposed division of Sofifi City had to come from the
government and members of the Regional People's Legislative Council in Tidore and not
members of the Regional People's Legislative Council of North Maluku Province (Yahya,
2021).
The second factor is the Tidore City government, in this case the Mayor and Deputy
Mayor of Tidore. The fact shows that the Tidore Islands City Government has a dual
attitude towards the expansion of Sofifi City. This is because the Tidore government,
under the leadership of Ali Ibrahim and Muhammad Senen, once used the Sofifi issue as
a political tool to gain public support as the regional head of the City of Tidore Islands
(Gamalamanews, 2019). However, the attitude of the Tidore Islands City government
tends not to be maximal in supporting the expansion of Sofifi. The Tidore Islands City's
local revenue (PAD) still depends on Sofifi (Qodir, 2016). This has resulted in a double
attitude from the Tidore City government.
On the one hand, the Tidore government promised the division of Sofifi so that it
would be separated from Tidore. Still, on the other hand, the Tidore government used
natural resources in Sofifi as an increase in Tidore City's original regional income. In
addition, the Sofifi community also believes that the Tidore government is not serious
about development in Sofifi (Kumparan, 2019).
It is known that the potential for natural resources in Tidore is mostly found on the
Oba mainland, which includes the Sofifi Village. As explained in the working document
from the Regional Development Planning Agency for the City of Tidore Islands, the City
of Tidore Islands may have mineral and excavation resources on the Oba mainland (Oba
is the name of the sub-district that includes Sofifi). As in Central Oba District, Noramake
Village, Akedotilou Village, Aketobololo Village, and Akelamo Village. The laboratory
analysis showed that the gold content in the Central Oba area from river sediments
reached the highest value, up to 127 gr/t. It reached 803 mg/t Au from the soil, while
from the rock, it reached 328 gr/t Au (Bappeda Tidore, 2021).
PT. Gema Nusantara Bhakti and PT. Shana Tova Anugrah have both explored
Akelamo. Meanwhile, North Oba District is located in Kaiyasa Village, but no laboratory
analysis results have been published yet. South Oba District is in Nuku Village, with the
highest sample value of Cu 0.36%. Au 0.094 g/t, Ag 5.29 g/t (Bappeda Tidore, 2021).
In addition, nickel mining deposits are found on the Oba mainland, such as in the
Oba District, Woda Village. From the X-ray analysis results, Ni's content was 1.38%, Fe
Journal of Contemporary Governance and Public Policy

89

203 was 29.25%, MgO was 16.00%, Mn02 was 0.68%, and Si02 was 32.84%. For Oba
District, nickel has been explored by PT. Banua Sanggam Lestari, PT. Our Business
Performance, PT. Mulia Anugrah Sawitindo, and PT Cetara Bagun Persada. Whereas in
South Oba District, Hager Village, from the results of laboratory analysis of surface
samples, the highest yields were Fe 10.16 percent and Ni 0.005%. For the South Oba
District, nickel has been explored by PT Usaha Kita Prestasitama and PT. Cetara Bangun
Persada. Apart from gold and nickel, there are also potential natural resources in the form
of coal, iron sand, and stone on the Oba mainland (Bappeda Tidore, 2021).
This indicates that the government of the City of Tidore Archipelago and the
Sultanate of Tidore tends not to want to let go of the land of Oba, which will be fully
expanded to become the City of Sofifi, because it is considered to contain abundant
natural resources.
In the meantime, the people of Sofifi City kept doing things to demand that the city
be split up, even though the political elite had different goals. This is because Sofifi City is
behind in terms of development and it is hard to get to public services (Poskomalut,
2022). Several academics in North Maluku also agreed with this because they thought
that Sofifi needed to be split up right away (Halmaherapost, 2019).
The two most important actors in the expansion of Sofifi City were the North Maluku
Provincial government and the Tidore Sultanate. The reason is important because the
Sultan of Tidore historically controlled the Sofifi area as part of the territory of the Tidore
Sultanate. It was also important to maintain Sofifi in the Tidore Sultanate because the
Tidore Sultanate wanted to build political power in North Maluku through Sofifi
(Umagapi, 2017).
Meanwhile, the Provincial Government of North Maluku, which currently has an
office in the Sofifi area, is interested in the existence of the division of Sofifi to establish
strong legality by the Provincial Government to regulate Sofifi (Wijaya, Abd Radjak, &
Muluk, 2021). Another interesting fact is that power over North Maluku Province,
especially Sofifi, is not only held by the Tidore sultanate. Because Sofifi has not been
separated from the City of Tidore Islands, the provincial government feels that it does not
have much legitimacy to regulate Sofifi (Tandaseru, 2022).
Based on this conflict of interest, we can say that Indonesia's current form of
regional autonomy policy is still not fair. Decentralisation proposes a concept of the
division of authority (Yakub, Abdul Ghani, & Anwar, 2020). However, implementing the
pattern of division of authority as conceptualised by the decentralisation system has
created problems (Hanson, 2022). One of the crucial problems is the emergence of elite
conflict and power struggles over the aspirations of certain ethnic groups.
Conflict Resolution
Conflicts related to the pros and cons of the planned expansion of the city of Sofifi
into a new autonomous region have given birth to changes with the presence of decisions
that are seen as a middle ground for differences in the development plans for the capital
city. To defuse the conflict, which resulted in slow development in North Maluku, the
central government planned to establish a regulation on the special area of the capital

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city of Sofifi. It is hoped that this regulation will become the legal basis for budgeting and
determining policies related to development in Sofifi as the capital city of North Maluku
Province (Harianhalmahera 2019). This special area of the Capital City of Sofifi covers
two districts and a city covering most of the Tidore Islands City area, especially on the
Oba mainland and in parts of West Halmahera Regency.
After the issuance of this regulation, the provincial government plans to complete
all facilities at Sofifi, such as building a public hospital and an asylum. In addition, the
infrastructure provided by the government includes housing for the State Civil
Apparatus, Loleo Airport located in Oba, and two ports located in Gita and Sofifi, as well
as urban planning in the Sofifi area. The development was carried out to test the
feasibility of making the area a special capital city area. However, the policy of making
Sofifi a Special Urban Area does not rule out the possibility of becoming a step in the
expansion plan for the City of Sofifi.
Therefore, regional autonomy is usually used to reconcile conflicts between the
central and regional governments. As in the case of Italy, there was a conflict between the
central and regional governments due to social concerns (Napolitano & Saputelli, 2020).
So in several countries, regional autonomy is often used to reduce conflict and build peace
(Holland, Dahlman, & Browne, 2020).
Conclusion
The Sofifi City Expansion Conflict is a fight that starts when political elites in North
Maluku fight over who has the most power. This is true because the power struggle has
become a part of North Maluku's history. Apart from the struggle for power, the struggle
for authority over the management of natural resources also indicates the division
conflict in Sofifi. Domination of ethnicity tends to be a political tool to seize power over
natural resources. Although the push for expansion by the people of mainland Oba,
especially Sofifi, did not prioritise ethnic demands, efforts to prevent these demands from
the community tended to use ethnic strength. Apart from that, differences in the
development paradigm in managing Sofifi were also a factor in causing conflict between
the Provincial Government and the Tidore Sultanate. However, what is most important
in this article is where the demand for regional autonomy for the welfare of Sofifi's people
has been neglected because of the polemic at the elite level.
The results of this study show that the policy of using the regional autonomy system
to spread power and make government work better has had a bad effect. This bad effect
happens when there is an imbalance in human resources, which leads to local political
elites in Indonesia having too much power.
Recommendations that need to be considered in the case of the conflict over the
division of Sofifi City are: first, the need to review Law No. 1 of 2003 concerning the
formation of North Halmahera Regency, South Halmahera Regency, Sula Islands Regency,
East Halmahera Regency, and Tidore Islands City in North Maluku Province, which did
not take Sofifi's status into account; second, the importance of reviewing the meaning of
regional autonomy, which should prioritise the aspirations of the people in government

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decisions, including the decision on the expansion of the city of Sofifi. Third, there must
be human resource development to overcome human resource imbalances at the local
level.
Acknowledgement
This work was supported by the Master of Government Affairs and Administration,
Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The authors also express their
appreciation to all parties who have supported the process.
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