Disintegration on doorstep, PPP warns government

Disintegration on doorstep, PPP warns government

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The United Development Party (PPP) faction in the People's
Consultative Assembly has warned that the government must be more
serious in dealing with the threat of disintegration, referring
to separatist movements in Aceh, Papua and Maluku.

Reading the faction's final assessment of the draft decrees
and other instruments produced by the Assembly commissions during
a plenary session late on Thursday night, the PPP faction
spokesman HM Tahir S. said that the government should adopt an
approach based on social well-being, as well as religious and
socio-cultural aspects.

"This approach must be developed through dialog involving all
elements of society so as to reach a uniformity of perceptions in
resolving conflicts through peaceful means in the framework of
the unitary state of the Republic of Indonesia," he said as
quoted by Antara.

The government has so far been applying a security approach in
order to quell separatist movements such as those in the strife-
torn province of Aceh in Sumatra, and Papua, formerly Irian Jaya.

The faction urged President Megawati Soekarnoputri to be
serious in implementing the Nangroe Darussalam Aceh Law in Aceh
and the newly-endorsed Special Autonomy Law for Papua.

The government, Tahir said, should also seriously work based
upon well-planned programs to reach comprehensive resolutions to
the ethnic and religious conflicts in Maluku, Kalimantan and Poso
in Sulawesi.

"Especially for Aceh, we urge all the disputing parties in the
province to stop the violence, lay down their arms and go forward
to peace talks. Only through this most honorable and civilized
way will we be able to solve the prolonged conflicts that have
claimed many lives," he said.

On communal violence in Maluku, the faction said that it was
no longer a horizontal conflict, but had been exploited by a
separatist group who wanted the reemergence of the so-called
South Maluku Republic.

The government, it said, should encourage a reconciliation
between the disputing factions, rehabilitate damaged facilities,
deal with refugees in a humane manner and listen to the
aspirations of the Maluku people.

More than 2 million displaced people are now living in camps
as refugees -- including those from East Timor -- as a result of
the various conflicts in the country.