Government says MRP cultural, not political, body

Government says MRP cultural, not political, body

M. Taufiqurrahman and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post,
Jakarta

The Papuans' hope of having a strong representative political
body has been dashed, as Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno
affirmed on Friday that the planned Papuan People's Assembly
(MRP) would be nothing more than a cultural institution.

Hari said the government was drafting a government regulation
on the MRP that would stipulate that the assembly served to
protect the ancestral rights of the Papuans.

He asserted the assembly would not become a political
institution with the authority to void decisions made by the
local administration and legislature.

"The central government strongly opposes the idea to enable
the MRP to annul the decisions of the governor or provincial
legislative council as proposed by the Papuans," he told
reporters here.

He also said the government also planned to arrange a better
selection mechanism for representatives who will sit in the MRP.

"One regency in Papua may be a home to more than 100 ethnic
groups. Therefore, there will be difficulties in deciding who
will represent a certain group in the MRP. We are trying to
devise a better mechanism on this (issue)," he said.

Law No. 21/2001 on special autonomy for Papua says each
regency is entitled to three MRP seats, and that the MRP must be
consulted on crucial issues that will affect the Papuans.

At least five people were killed and dozens injured in a
series of clashes sparked by the declaration of Central Irian
Jaya in Mimika, Timika regency, Papua, two weeks ago. The clashes
also sparked a tribal war among rival indigenous Papuans, split
into groups opposing and supporting the new province.

Following the clashes, calls on the establishment of the MRP
surfaced anew, along with criticisms from political experts and
local figures on Jakarta's move to divide the province.

In response, the government decided to delay indefinitely the
establishment of Central Irian Jaya, but will proceed with the
formation of West Irian Jaya province, regardless of demands that
it wait until the MRP exists.

The government enacted the Special Autonomy Law on Papua,
wherein the MRP is among its primary prerequisites, to appease
resentment from the Papuans over its rampant human rights abuses
and unfair revenue sharing from the exploitation of the
province's natural resources since the early 1960s.

Papua was integrated into Indonesia in 1963.

So far, the government has been reluctant to establish the MRP
and has repeatedly suggested that the decision-making power of
the MRP be reduced on grounds that it was "not a political
institution".

The Papuan legislature proposed a draft ruling on the
establishment of the much-awaited MRP and submitted it to the
home minister for approval almost a year ago.

While the proposal remained unheeded, President Megawati
Soekarnoputri issued Presidential Instruction No. 1/2003 to
accelerate the formation of Central Irian Jaya and West Irian
Jaya provinces. The instruction was meant to implement Law No.
45/1999 on dividing Papua into three provinces, which was passed
under the administration of B.J. Habibie, but was postponed due
to local opposition.