Conflict, transportation threaten general elections in Papua
Conflict, transportation threaten general elections in Papua
Nethy Dharma Somba and Ridwan Max Sijabat,
The Jakarta Post, Jayapura/Jakarta
The increasingly complex Papua conflict in addition to
transportation and financial problems are the three main issues
threatening the upcoming general elections in the country's
easternmost resource-rich province.
The ongoing election preparations in the province have become
problematic following the appointment of a secretary to the
provincial chapter of the General Elections Commission (KPUD) in
West Irian Jaya to verify legislative candidates in the newly-
formed province.
Papua opposes the secretary's appointment because a separate
organization of elections in the new province is not regulated by
the Election Law. The Election Law does not recognize the new
province.
The main problem behind the friction between the Papuan KPUD
and the KPU is the controversy on the division of the province
into three, a government move that has acerbated the conflict.
Papua has even accused the KPU of being contaminated by
government interests as the new province was not mentioned in the
Election Law while West Irian Jaya's acting governor Abram
Octavianus Atururi has required all legislative candidates to
accept the new province's existence.
"As KPUD Papua is taking the KPU to court, KPUD Papua is no
longer responsible for the organizing of elections in the (new)
province," Papua KPUD Chairman Marthen Ferry Kareth told The
Jakarta Post recently.
The main problem behind the elections is the enforcement of
Law No. 45/1999 on the formation of West and Central Irian Jaya
provinces that negates the special autonomy status of the
province and has complicated existing conflict in the province.
The political friction has been amplified by the House's proposed
imposition of a civil emergency to ensure that the elections run
smoothly in the province.
The Papuan people and the local elite oppose the province's
division because besides being inconsistent with the amended 1945
Constitution, the government has not shown the political will to
implement the special autonomy which was given on the basis of a
national consensus to compensate for the demand for Papua's
independence.
Leo Imbiri, an executive of the Papuan Customary Council, said
the Papuan people were actually not interested in the elections
because the government had no political commitment to solve the
prolonged issue and had even politicized the issue to fight for
its own interests.
Bambang Widjoyanto, chairman of the advocacy team for Papua's
special autonomy, said the elections would turn chaotic in Papua
because of the complicated conflict and the government's
interference in the elections.
"The elections could turn violent if political parties
supporting the new province's formation are defeated in the
elections," he said, explaining that the new province has gained
support mostly from migrants supporting the Indonesian Democratic
Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), Muslim parties and the
Indonesian Military.
The formation of the new province is still hanging because the
Constitutional Court has not made a decision in its review of Law
No. 45/1999.
The new province's formation has gained the full support of
the central government, the National Intelligence Agency and the
military. PDI Perjuangan supports the new province as a means to
undermine the Golkar Party's domination in Papua.
West Irian Jaya has been a source of wealth for many parties
with the presence of multinational Beyond Petroleum Ltd., while
Central Irian Jaya whose inauguration as new province has been
suspended has the world's biggest copper and gold mining company
PT Freeport McMoran Indonesia in Timika.
The presence of multinationals became a source of finance for
the government and the military due to the security services it
provided during the New Order era, while the separatist movement
has gained support from the indigenous people who gained less
from the exploitation of their resources.
Besides being denied the chance to control their destiny, the
Papuan people are disappointed with the government for its
failure to bring to court military officials accused of being
involved in human right abuses.
Governor Jaap Salossa and tribal leader Yance Kayame concurred
with Bambang, saying that the KPU was not able to ensure a
democratic election because it has been prepared by the
government.
"The KPU, the government and security authorities will work
hard to organize the election and mobilize all their power to
have all voters participate in the elections but it is done to
fight for their political interests and not for the development
of democracy," Salossa said recently.
The provincial chapter of the General Elections Commission is
also worried that the legislative elections may not be able to be
held simultaneously in the province on April 5 because of the
lack of planning in view of the unique transportation and
communication problems in the large province.
Musa'ad, a KPUD member in charge of logistics, said that
besides political friction, transportation and communications
were decisive factors in making the elections a success.
"So far, KPUD has yet to train local election committees in
subdistricts and villages and has yet to disseminate information
about the legislative and presidential elections to Papuan people
living in remote areas because of transportation, communication
and financial problems," he said. The province of Papua is three-
and-a-half times the area of Java island.
To illustrate the problem, he asserted that the KPUD had to
use the postal service to communicate with local election
commissions in the province's second electoral district that
consists of four remote regencies --Boven Digul, Pegunungan
Bintang, Yahukimo and Keerom. "The four regencies located in the
remote mountainous area can only be reached by plane and there
are no regular flights from Jayapura to the regencies. Our letter
could reach the regencies in two to three weeks using the
missionary aviation service if the weather is good," he said.
He also said KPUD was in need of Rp 15 billion to cover the
legislative elections but so far it had received only Rp 3
billion from the KPU and the provincial administration.
He said the KPUD had informed the KPU in Jakarta that the
legislative elections could not be held simultaneously on April 5
in the province unless logistics such as ballot boxes and papers
were distributed three months ahead of the election day.
"The organizing of the elections appears haphazard because of
the lack of coordination between election organizers in Jakarta
and the regions," he added.