[ppi] [ppiindia] Let Papuans decide

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http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaileditorial.asp?fileid=20060224.E01&irec=0


Let Papuans decide 

The government, in refraining from forcing its will on Papuans in the 
protracted dispute over the status of West Irian Jaya, seems to have learned 
from the past.

Although earlier setting a Feb. 20 deadline for a settlement of the dispute, 
the government has opted to heed the wishes of the Papuan People's Assembly 
(MRP) and the provincial legislature. 

Vice President Jusuf Kalla, who has facilitated negotiations over the issue, 
made it clear the central government preferred to defer the issuance of a legal 
umbrella, including an emergency government regulation, to sanction West Irian 
Jaya province and its administration. This deferral also means a delay in the 
West Irian Jaya gubernatorial election until the dispute is resolved. 

Both the MRP and the Papuan legislature said they did not oppose the formation 
of West Irian Jaya province, but underlined that people in the proposed 
province were not ready to break away from Papua. 

This conclusion was reached after a popular consultation in eight regencies and 
a mayoralty in West Irian Jaya, which defenders of the new province claimed did 
not represent the true wishes of people. 

In addition, the establishment of the province must first be approved by the 
MRP, in accordance with the 2001 Papua Special Autonomy Law. 

In its seven-point recommendation, the Papuan People's Assembly said any 
decision to split Papua must not lead to more military soldiers in the 
territory or result in an influx of migrants. The assembly also said Papu must 
be maintained as a unified cultural, social and economic entity. 

In short, the assembly is seeking a guarantee that any division of Papua would 
benefit local people and protect their social, economic and cultural rights. 

A hasty division would only keep Papuans, particularly those in the western 
half of the territory, from achieving the underlying objectives of special 
autonomy status. Under special autonomy, Papua receives 70 percent of oil 
revenue, 80 percent of mining revenue and 70 percent of natural gas revenue. 
However, despite these generous divisions, ordinary Papuans have seen little 
change in the quality of their lives since the special autonomy law was 
introduced five years ago. 

Statistics from the Office of the State Minister for the Development of 
Disadvantaged Regions speak of the paradox of development in Papua. Of 29 
regencies and mayoralties across the territory, 19 are categorized as 
underdeveloped. This paradox was underlined by reports of famine in remote 
villages in Yahukimo a few months ago, and more recently in Wamena, Jayawiyaya, 
Bintang and Gunung Mulia. 

With indigenous Papuans lacking the skills and knowledge to compete with 
migrants in many jobs, the fast-growing migrant population is another cause for 
concern for the MRP. The indigenous Papuan population is now only 10 percent 
higher than the migrant population, prompting concern by the MRP that Papuans 
will become a minority in their own land within the next decade. 

The MRP clearly has strong reasons for calling for a delay of the partition 
agenda, which dates back to 2003 when then president Megawati Soekarnoputri 
tried to push through a law on the formation of West Irian Jaya and Central 
Irian Jaya provinces. 

Whatever the motivations of Megawati, however, West Irian Jaya has become a de 
facto province. It has four elected legislators each in the House of 
Representatives and Regional Representative Council, and a working 
administration. These facts were taken into consideration when the 
Constitutional Court ruled that West Irian Jaya was a legitimate province, even 
though the legal basis for its formation was questionable. 

While the Constitutional Court's ruling is final and binding, it is now the 
central government's ball to play without ignoring the 2001 Papua Special 
Autonomy Law. 

West Irian Jaya province, and perhaps one or two more new provinces in Papua, 
is only a matter of time. There is no opposition to the division of Papua, as 
far as the MRP recommendation is concerned, but a reminder that such a division 
must reflect the wishes of Papuans, not the politicians in Jakarta. 


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