House urged to drop bill on Irian Java

House urged to drop bill on Irian Java

JAKARTA (JP): Two outspoken legislators from Irian Jaya called
on the House of Representatives to drop the bill on special
autonomy in Indonesia's troubled easternmost province as it
failed to fully accommodate the Irianese people's aspirations.

Alex Litay of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI
Perjuangan) and Simon Maori of the Golkar Party said that all the
legislators from the province would resist if the House went
ahead with its plan to debate the controversial bill.

"We will have to conduct a campaign of protest until the bill
is dropped from the House's agenda," Alex said at the House's
plenary session here on Friday.

He said the bill was opposed by local politicians in Irian
because they were not involved in its drafting and it was
regarded as failing to accommodate the province's aspirations.

"The issue of Irian Jaya will never be solved if the
government forcibly inserts its idea into the bill and ignores
the province's political aspirations," he said.

The bill on special autonomy for Irian Jaya was recently
submitted to the House but it has yet to be disseminated among
the legislators.

Maori, who, along with Alex, returned from Jayapura on
Thursday, said the House should adopt the new bill being jointly
prepared by the Irian Jaya provincial administration and
legislative council.

"Let the Irianese people channel their aspirations for the
province through this bill ... the central government should not
teach them what they want and need. It is of the utmost
importance that the province remains within the unitary state of
Indonesia," said Maori, who was applauded by other legislators.

Maori also said the government should be flexible in putting
into effect the 2000 People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) decree
that sets May 1, 2001 as the deadline for the implementation of
special autonomy in the province and in troubled Aceh.

"It seems impossible for the government to meet the deadline
because the two bills have yet to be debated. It's better to lay
the groundwork properly rather than face numerous problems
following their passage," he said.

House Speaker Akbar Tandjung, who presided over the plenary
session, said that it was impossible for the House to drop the
bill but the draft being prepared by the Irian Jaya
administration could be taken as the main point of reference in
discussing the government's bill.

"Regarding the May 1 deadline, the House should discuss it
with the government so that the implementation of special
autonomy in the two provinces (Aceh and Irian Jaya) will not give
rise to new problems," he said.

Akbar said in his speech before the plenary session that the
two bills were among 14 bills which would be held over from the
House's third session because of the House's full agenda over the
last three months.

"Other bills which have been postponed include those on
electricity, eradication of money laundering, building
construction and the establishment of 12 new mayoralties and
provinces," he said.

He said that of the 20 bills listed for the third session, the
bill on extradition between Indonesia and Hong Kong was passed
into law last month. (rms)