House sidelines government on Papua autonomy

House sidelines government on Papua autonomy

JAKARTA (JP): Disregarding its internal rules, the House of
Representatives has decided to deliberate the draft law on
special autonomy for Irian Jaya proposed by the provincial
legislature.

House Speaker Akbar Tandjung, during a hearing with Irian Jaya
councillors on Thursday, said the House would always put the
aspirations of the people above all else, particularly in matters
of regional autonomy.

The draft from the Irian Jaya legislature was submitted to the
House in April, two months after a government-sponsored draft
reached the legislative body.

"We have decided to treat the government's proposal as
supplementary material in our deliberations of the draft on
special autonomy for Irian Jaya. We will take the draft from the
local people and use it as our initiative bill," Akbar said.

The internal rules of the House stipulate that deliberations
of bills must be based on the principle of "first come, first
served".

The President has been at loggerheads with the House for
almost throughout his 19-month term. In response to the House's
second censure against him earlier this month, Abdurrahman
reminded the House of its neglected legislative duties.

As with the Irian Jaya draft law, the House bypassed the
government-sponsored draft law on special autonomy for Aceh in
favor of a draft proposed by the provincial legislature.

The government, whose draft reached the House before the draft
from Aceh, agreed to the House's decision, but pointed out that
it was a violation of the House's internal rules. The Aceh draft
law is currently being deliberated.

Akbar said the House expected to hold its first hearing on the
Irian Jaya draft law sometime during the current session, which
ends on July 23.

People's Consultative Assembly Decree No.4/2000 ruled that
special autonomy laws for the two provinces should be in place
before May 1, 2001, a deadline the House failed to meet.

The deputy chairman of House Commission II for legal and home
affairs, Hamdan Zoelva, who also attended the hearing with the
Irian Jaya councillors, asked for understanding if deliberations
of the draft were not completed by July 23.

"We will set a date for the deliberations as soon as possible,
but we hope that people will understand that we may not be able
to finish the discussions as early as expected," Hamdan, who is
an Aceh native, said.

The Irian Jaya councillors also asked the House to approve the
use of Papua as the official name of the province.

"Papua means 'earth ruler' or 'small land from heaven', so we
are asking the House to let us use the name as was promised by
the President," Irian Jaya councillor Ahmad Hakim said.

In response, Akbar, who is also the chairman of the Golkar
Party, said the House always respected the people's aspirations
and it was possible the House would agree to the request.

"For us, Golkar Party, to use Papua as the name of the
province is not a problem," Akbar said, adding that it was also
possible to call the draft law the Papua Special Autonomy Bill.
(dja)