Govt told to hold dialog with Papuans

JAYAPURA, Papua: Golkar's presidential hopeful Sultan Hamengkubuwono X urged on Thursday the central government to open a dialog with the people of troubled Papua province in order to solve their problems.

"The government should not be afraid of having talks with its own people in Papua because a nation is made up of its people," he said in the provincial capital Jayapura, where he was campaigning for his party.

He made the statement in response to a question on how he would solve Papua's problems if he were elected president.

"For me, to be president is another matter. The important thing is that the present government opens the door for talks with the Papuan people to avoid more serious problems," the sultan said.

He said the government should not underestimate the fighting spirit of the Papuans.

Papuan separatists have long been campaigning for independence from Indonesia and the sultan said this indicated that there was a problem between them and the central government. --Antara