The Jakarta Post, November 19, 2003
Govt to revise conflicting laws on Papua
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The government plans to launch revisions of two conflicting laws on Papua -- Law
No.45/1999 and Law No.21/2001 -- and is preparing the draft of a government
regulation on the establishment of the long-awaited Papuan People's Assembly
(MRP).
With the revision and amendment of the two conflicting laws, the government plans to
legitimize the establishment of new provinces in Papua.
Under Law No.21/2001 on special autonomy for Papua, any partition of Papua into
different provinces must be made with the approval of the Papuan People's Assembly
(MRP), the Papuan legislative council (DPRP), and after due consideration has been
taken of the local culture, human resources, and the economic potential of Papua.
"(The revised laws will say ... ) the establishment of new provinces must be with the
approval of the MRP and DPRP except for those established before the revisions,"
Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno said during a hearing with the House of
Representatives' home affairs commission on Tuesday.
The revisions will thus make the controversial establishment of West Irian Jaya and
Central Irian Jaya provinces in 1999 exempt from the need to seek the approval of
Papuans.
The minister added that the revisions would also clearly state that special autonomy
would be applicable in all provinces of Papua -- the original Papua province, West Irian
Jaya province, and Central Irian Jaya province.
The government partitioned Papua into three provinces -- Papua, West Irian Jaya, and
Central Irian Jaya -- in what it claimed was an attempt to improve the quality of
administration there.
However, the policy was roundly rejected by students and people in Papua, and they
occupied the provincial legislature for one week in a show of resistance.
Worried by the increasing tension in Papua, the government delayed the formal
setting up of the new provinces and granted the enormous province greater autonomy
in 2001 in an attempt to appease separatist sentiment there.
Under Law No. 21 of 2001, the government should have issued the government
regulation setting up the Papuan People's Assembly one month after receiving input
from the governor and the DPRD.
Two years after the law was passed, however, the government had still not issued a
government regulation to give effect to the law.
The home minister said that the government had drafted the regulation and would
soon issue it. "We sent the draft to the President on Nov. 4," he added.
The controversy over the division of Papua into three provinces continued with the
inauguration of Abraham Atururi as acting governor of West Irian Jaya despite the
objections of local people last week.
The secretary of the Information Center for Humanity, Justice, and Truth in Papua
(PIK-3-TanPa), Frans Maniagasi, said that the inauguration of the acting governor was
legally defective.
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