Local elections and Papuan politics

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