Regional and central government relation has been one of the destabilizing elements in Indonesia politics. Ichlasul Amal writes, however, that it is the new order governments which, by bringing effective state power bear throughout Indonesia, made possible for the new form of regional identity to fit comfortably within a inited Indonesia. Two elements of state authority that are effective, are the ability of the central government to handle mass politics, and its capacity to increase the authority of the bureaucry, which is able to absorb and neutralize the emergence of the counter forces. The process of transforming regional leaders into part of the central leadership through development programs also makes a political “bumper” in the face of any mass prtest concerning legitimacy of the government.