JP/7/IWAN

JP/7/IWAN

Local elections and Papuan legitimacy

Iwan S. Ardjali
Jakarta

In international studies, the right to self-determination is
recognized by the United Nations Charter, the Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights, the Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights, etc.

International norms classify self-determination into external
self-determination and internal self-determination. External
self-determination prevails in colonized countries in which the
people have the rights to choose either to integrate with another
country, to associate with a country or to declare their
independence.

It in the case of East Timor (now Timor Leste), the United
Nations recognized it as a decolonized region and Portugal as its
administering power. Therefore, the United Nations Mission in
East Timor (UNAMET) conducted the ballot as an act of external
self-determination, which brought about East Timor as an
independent country. On the other hand, internal self-
determination prevails in independent countries in which the
people have rights to determine developments in politics, as well
as social and cultural fields, without any external intervention,
such as for local and general elections as well as autonomy
status.

Papua separatist groups and certain NGOs appraise Papua as a
colonized country; therefore, they believe the Papuans a right to
practice external self-determination. They are highlighting the
issue through seminars and the Internet and using up a lot of
expenses.

They deny the status of Papua as a province of Indonesia and
claim that Papua has been an independent country since Dec. 1,
1961 after the Dutch colonial administration promised to
establish a local legislature to prepare the scattered tribal
people for statehood.

They also maintain that the Indonesian government failed to
conduct a fair referendum (Penentuan Pendapat Rakyat, also
referred to as Pepera), with just 1,000 hand-picked Papuan
representatives voting in 1969.

On the other hand, the Indonesian Government has relied on the
result of Pepera which was held under United Nations auspices
from July 14 to Aug. 2, 1969, and was endorsed by United Nations
Resolution No. 2504/1969 stating that West Papua was recognized
as a part of Indonesia.

Because a the majority of Papuans participated in the general
elections of 2004, this demonstrates that Papuans are becoming
involved in internal referendum as they did the external
referendum of Pepera in 1969, which was recognized and praised by
the United Nations as well as international fora.

It means that Papuans and the international community
recognize that Papua is politically a part of the unitary state
of Indonesia. Thus, the success of the local elections in Papua
plays very important role to reinforce their position as a part
of the unitary state of Indonesia. Papuans have the opportunity
to directly choose their own local leaders.

Separatist groups and certain NGOs have also been highlighting
that the government and private sectors drain and abuse Papua's
wealth and environment. In relation to this, Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono's administration has taken action to arrest the
perpetrators of environmental abuse in Papua. This is a
courageous measure taken to win the hearts and minds of the
Papuans. Yet, the big question is, how will Jakarta and future
local Papuan leaders be able to maintain the people' trust by
bringing them justice?

The writer is a member of Indonesian Council of World Affairs
(ICWA). He can be reached at satriawanmacho@yahoo.com