Take care when reading President Megawati's lips<\/p>\n
Kornelius Purba, Staff Writer, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta,
\nkorpur@yahoo.com<\/p>\n
People in Papua and Aceh need to learn from Americans about
\nthe proper way of \"reading\" their leaders' lips.<\/p>\n
As a campaign gimmick to convince voters that he would not
\nraise taxes when he was elected, U.S. president, George Bush Sr.
\nbecame famous for his trademark phrase \"Read my lips\" in 1988.
\nLater he also used a popular song with the theme Don't worry, be
\nhappy. Bush Sr. however, failed to fulfill his tax promise.<\/p>\n
If we compare President Megawati Soekarnoputri's statements
\ndelivered to the people in the rebellious provinces of Papua and
\nAceh, we can quickly conclude that we too should be much more
\ncareful when reading her lips. But unlike Americans who may be
\nmore skeptical and take campaign slogans with a grain of salt,
\nPapuans are among those who remember the promises, especially if
\nit is made by the highest authority in the land, the President,
\nand so they will keep waiting for that promise to be fulfilled --
\nand likely get very upset and continue making demands when they
\nrealize they have been cheated.<\/p>\n
In her Christmas message to the Papuan people in 2001, just
\none month after she endorsed Law No. 21 on Special Autonomy for
\nPapua, Megawati commented: \"I believe that when the special
\nautonomy is seriously and wholeheartedly implemented, the dream
\nof the Indonesian nation, especially the Papuan people, can be
\nrealized.\"<\/p>\n
Shortly after her Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI
\nPerjuangan) won the general elections, on July 29, 1999 The
\nJakarta Post reported that Megawati broke down in tears when she
\nsaid she would do her best to stop violence in Aceh.<\/p>\n
\"When I lead the country, I will not let a single drop of
\nblood touch Aceh's soil,\" Megawati said.<\/p>\n
\"I will give all my love and your Arun (gas field) back so
\nthat Acehnese can enjoy their beautiful land,\" she said,
\nreferring to one of the largest and most profitable natural gas
\nfields in the world, in which most of the profits end up in
\nJakarta or overseas.<\/p>\n
How much should a citizen of those two troubled lands rely on
\nsuch sweet promises?<\/p>\n
Perhaps the President has forgotten her commitments to them
\nwithout realizing the risk of making such a huge promise.<\/p>\n
The Papuan autonomy law has now virtually become a meaningless
\npiece of paper, because the government made a u-turn and now
\napparently thinks the law provides fertile ground for the growth
\nof separatism in the province and thus a threat to the unitary
\nstate of Indonesia. This Sunday, Central Irian Jaya province will
\nbe born and a later two more will emerge, effectively breaking
\nwhat is now Papua province into three provinces. In her
\ninstruction No. 1 this year, the President ordered the division
\nof the province into three which will also comprise West Irian
\nJaya and East Irian Jaya. The President has even ignored the name
\nof Papua -- which the Papuan people prefer -- and returned to the
\nold name Irian Jaya.<\/p>\n
The President probably believes that the creation of more
\nprovinces in the territory will boost efforts to improve
\nprosperity and progress. Maybe she thinks that such a change will
\nalso end the Papuans' demands for justice over alleged human
\nrights abuses that have been continuing for decades.<\/p>\n
And although the President has clearly betrayed Law No. 21 on
\nSpecial Autonomy for Papua, there has not been a peep out of our
\nnormally vociferous legislators. Describing the law as a final
\noffer for the rebellious province when the House of
\nRepresentatives passed the bill in 2001, now the House pretends
\nnot to know what the government, specifically, Minister of Home
\nAffairs Hari Sabarno, is doing in Papua.<\/p>\n
On paper, the government looks very generous in providing
\nautonomy for the country's easternmost province, like its gesture
\nto Aceh legalized by Law No. 8\/2001 on the latter's special
\nautonomy. The benefits that the people of Papua were supposed to
\nenjoy was that they would get to have an indigenous Papuan as
\ntheir governor and the appointments of provincial police chief
\nand head prosecutor must get prior approval from the governor,
\nthus hopefully ensuring that the Papuans get leaders that they
\napprove of and respect.<\/p>\n
In reality, however, both the Papuans and the Acehnese were
\nonly promised these benefits, but most of them have never been
\ndelivered.<\/p>\n
The East Timorese were actually the first unhappy citizens who
\nwere promised special autonomy. But they are clearly luckier than
\nthe people in the above two provinces, because the United Nations
\nhad never recognized Indonesia's claim on the tiny territory,
\nwhile Aceh was recognized as part of Indonesia since its
\nindependence in 1945, and Papua\/Irian Jaya generally has been
\nrecognized since the 1960s.<\/p>\n
Upset that his offer to grant special autonomy did not receive
\nan enthusiastic response from the East Timorese as he expected,
\nthen president B.J. Habibie hastily agreed to what amounted to an
\nindependence referendum in the territory. At that time Habibie
\nand all the president's men firmly believed that the East
\nTimorese loved Indonesia so much that they would vote for his
\nspecial autonomy offer, not independence -- hence many were
\nshocked with the referendum result (about 80 percent voted for
\nindependence) leading to a free East Timor.<\/p>\n
As for the Papuans, while they now show strong signs of
\nacceptance of the promise of autonomy, the government has
\nconveniently forgotten the existence of the autonomy law.<\/p>\n
The special autonomy laws for Aceh and Papua are the product
\nof the current legislature, with the full involvement of
\nPresident Megawati in their deliberation. Former president
\nSoeharto cannot be blamed for these laws along with all other
\nthings that he is blamed for -- he was not the one offering the
\ncandy, even though most of the alleged human rights abuses
\noccurred on his watch.<\/p>\n
People in the two provinces may now be at a loss as to whom
\ntheir complaints should be addressed to and who is still
\nconcerned about their plight. Perhaps they could just write: To
\nwhom it may concern.<\/p>",
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