W. Irian Jaya governor illegitimate: Court<\/p>\n
Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Papuan people's campaign against the province's division has
\nreceived a major boost after the State Administrative Court ruled
\non Tuesday against a law appointing Abraham Octavianus Atururi as
\nWest Irian Jaya governor.<\/p>\n
Several prominent Papuan figures immediately called on the
\ngovernment to comply with the court's ruling that Presidential
\nDecree No. 213\/2003 appointing the governor was contrary to the
\n2001 law on special autonomy. They warned Papuan people would
\nlose trust in the central government if the court ruling went
\nunheeded.<\/p>\n
Simon Patris Morin, a Golkar Party legislator from Papua,
\nurged President Megawati Soekarnoputri to abide by the verdict.
\nMegawati would have to recognize the Papuan people's opposition
\nto her decree if she wished to win their support in the coming
\npresidential election, he said.<\/p>\n
Provincial legislature speaker John Ibo and the Advocacy Team
\nfor Papua's Special Autonomy have asked the Constitutional Court
\nfor a judicial review of the decree that enforces Law No. 45\/1999
\non the formation of West and Central Irian Jaya provinces in
\nPapua.<\/p>\n
The court has delayed its hearing of the case because of its
\nheavy workload. It is currently hearing hundreds of election
\ndisputes involving political parties and Regional Representative
\ncandidates that contested the legislative election in April.<\/p>\n
Deputy speaker of the Papuan legislature Paskalis Kasai said
\nPapuan leaders were aware of the central government's attempts to
\nrailroad them into accepting the division.<\/p>\n
"Jakarta has suspended the disbursement of special autonomy
\nfunds worth Rp 1.6 trillion as Papua (provincial government)
\nrefuses to allocate a part of it to West Irian Jaya. Jakarta is
\nalso organizing a ceremony in Biak to announce the establishment
\nof the Central Irian Jaya province in the near future," he said.<\/p>\n
The declaration creating the Central Irian Jaya province was
\nsuspended in August last year following a bloody clash between
\nsupporters and opponents of the new province in Timika. Six
\npeople died in the conflict and dozens of others were injured.<\/p>\n
There is widespread opposition in Papua to the division of the
\nprovince. Many people have criticized the central government for
\nits inconsistency in enforcing the special autonomy law and its
\ndecision to split the natural resource-rich province for security
\nand economic reasons.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, director general of public administration and
\nregional autonomy affairs at the Home Ministry Oentarto Sindung
\nMawardi said the government would lodge an appeal against the
\nruling with the High Administrative Court. The state court had
\nfailed to take the government's explanation about the
\npresidential decree into consideration, Oentarto said.<\/p>\n
"The government's decision to enforce Law No. 45\/1999 and the
\nappointment of Atururi as acting governor in West Irian Jaya are
\nnot against Law No. 21\/2001 because all three provinces will
\nenjoy special autonomy," he said.<\/p>\n
Oentarto said Papua Governor Jaap Salossa had earlier proposed
\nthe development of Papua into five -- not three -- provinces.<\/p>\n
He denied allegations the government was set to announce the
\nformation of the Central Irian Jaya province in Biak and had
\nsuspended the special autonomy funds' disbursement.<\/p>\n
"The special autonomy funds for the first and second quarters
\nof the 2003 fiscal year have been disbursed, while the third and
\nfourth quarters will follow," he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/w-irian-jaya-governor-illegitimate-court-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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