Govt to emasculate Papua's special autonomy

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government again made clear on Monday its determination to prevent an overly powerful Papuan People's Assembly (MRP), throwing into question the status of the province's special autonomy.

The government has been halfheartedly implementing Law No. 21/2001 on special autonomy for Papua, and has been reluctant to establish the MRP because, according to Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra, the assembly would function as a powerful institution that overrides bylaws and gubernatorial decrees.

"How can the planned MRP become such a powerful institution when, comparably, the nation's amended 1945 Constitution no longer gives such powerful authority to the People's Consultative Assembly?" Yusril said before meeting with Vice President Hamzah Haz.

Because of this, the government is reluctant to approve the establishment of the assembly with its extraordinary powers, he said.

Yusril said the government was also considering giving special autonomy to the provinces of West Irian Jaya and Central Irian Jaya, whose formation was regulated in Law No. 45/1999. The controversy over these new provinces has triggered bloodshed in Timika over the last two weeks.

The people of Papua are confused and angered by the decision to split the province in three.

Critics say the law regulating the split violates the special autonomy law.

With the implementation of Law No. 45/1999, Papua lost almost two-thirds of its territory and annual revenue, as it would no longer enjoy income from copper and gold mining in Timika and oil and gas mining in Tangguh, Manokwari, West Irian Jaya.

Yusril acknowledged that the planned MRP was the result of a political compromise between the people of Papua and the central government, which wanted to curry favor with Papuans after years of indifference or repression.

"But now every party must realize the MRP cannot play such a great role with such extraordinary powers," he said, adding that the law was a product of former president Abdurrahman Wahid's administration.

President Megawati Soekarnoputri has indicated that the government will go ahead with its plan to split Papua into three provinces, because the territory is too large to be governed by a single governor.

Yusril also said the government has set up a small team to review the laws on special autonomy for Papua and the division of the province, as well as Presidential Instruction No. 1/2003 on the acceleration of the province's partition.