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.