Conflict, transportation threaten polls 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.

Map of electoral districts in Papua