Govt told to hold dialog with Papuans

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