KONFLIK ELIT POLITIK LOKAL DALAM PEMEKARAN DAERAH DI KABUPATEN MOROWALI

Like other social conflicts in various areas in Indonesia, the primordial issues that relate to religion and ethnicity frequently become dominant explanations for the prolonged conflict during the redistricting process and the changing of the Morowali district�s capital in 2001-2010. Through the modified securitization theory, this study offers an alternative understanding beside the ethnic and religious-based explanations. In the case of the changing of the Morowali district�s capital, this study demonstrates that the Securitizing Actors (SA) successfully securitize the logic of threat. Meanwhile, the Functional Actors (FA) also mobilize cultural issues, mainly religious and ethnic-based issues, that result in the emergence of social movement in the grass root level. This movement emerges in both groups of society, the Islam-based Bungku and the Christian-based Mori. Such movements are triggered by the SA�s efforts in securitizing the case of the changing of the Morowali�s capital as merely a religious-based ethnic conflict. This cultural conflict is subsequently framed and constructed by the Functional Actors to be the bigger social conflict. Unlike the previous case, the Securitizing Actors are unable to create social conflict and movement in the case of redistricting the Morowali district. This failure is determined by two factors. First, the Bungku community has satisfied since the local elites have attained their political objectives and interests by localizing the Bungku community as their political basis. Second, the struggle of the local elites of the Kolonodale community takes place within their own community so that they are able to prevent the more destructive conflict. In order to gain their support, the local elites often launch various ethnic and religious-based issues. This cultural issue is essential to be constructed as social and sectarian conflict in creating radical and fanatical supports. However, this conflict is basically determined by the transactional practices among actors to win the struggle for power in legislative election, the Central Sulawesi Governor election, as well as the Morowali Head of District election. This study argues that the Barry Buzan�s thesis that states that securitization of the cultural issues (logic of threat) through the construction of social conflict as a better way to set up common consciousness and to gain massive support (reference object) is not completely true. The conflict of the local elites in the case of redistricting the Morowali district obviously shows a different picture. The political struggle in this district is rather colored by the politics of transactions