Govt to revise conflicting laws on Papua

Govt to revise conflicting laws on Papua

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government plans to launch revisions of two conflicting laws
on Papua -- Law No.45/1999 and Law No.21/2001 -- and is preparing
the draft of a government regulation on the establishment of the
long-awaited Papuan People's Assembly (MRP).

With the revision and amendment of the two conflicting laws,
the government plans to legitimize the establishment of new
provinces in Papua.

Under Law No.21/2001 on special autonomy for Papua, any
partition of Papua into different provinces must be made with the
approval of the Papuan People's Assembly (MRP), the Papuan
legislative council (DPRP), and after due consideration has been
taken of the local culture, human resources, and the economic
potential of Papua.

"(The revised laws will say ... ) the establishment of new
provinces must be with the approval of the MRP and DPRP except
for those established before the revisions," Minister of Home
Affairs Hari Sabarno said during a hearing with the House of
Representatives' home affairs commission on Tuesday.

The revisions will thus make the controversial establishment
of West Irian Jaya and Central Irian Jaya provinces in 1999
exempt from the need to seek the approval of Papuans.

The minister added that the revisions would also clearly state
that special autonomy would be applicable in all provinces of
Papua -- the original Papua province, West Irian Jaya province,
and Central Irian Jaya province.

The government partitioned Papua into three provinces --
Papua, West Irian Jaya, and Central Irian Jaya -- in what it
claimed was an attempt to improve the quality of administration
there.

However, the policy was roundly rejected by students and
people in Papua, and they occupied the provincial legislature for
one week in a show of resistance.

Worried by the increasing tension in Papua, the government
delayed the formal setting up of the new provinces and granted
the enormous province greater autonomy in 2001 in an attempt to
appease separatist sentiment there.

Under Law No. 21 of 2001, the government should have issued
the government regulation setting up the Papuan People's Assembly
one month after receiving input from the governor and the DPRD.

Two years after the law was passed, however, the government
had still not issued a government regulation to give effect to
the law.

The home minister said that the government had drafted the
regulation and would soon issue it. "We sent the draft to the
President on Nov. 4," he added.

The controversy over the division of Papua into three
provinces continued with the inauguration of Abraham Atururi as
acting governor of West Irian Jaya despite the objections of
local people last week.

The secretary of the Information Center for Humanity, Justice,
and Truth in Papua (PIK-3-TanPa), Frans Maniagasi, said that the
inauguration of the acting governor was legally defective.