W. Irian Jaya expected to delay election

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The first ever direct gubernatorial election in West Irian Jaya, scheduled for Nov. 28, would almost certainly be postponed until the stalled establishment process for the new province was completed.

This was the consequence of an agreement in Jakarta on Thursday between Vice President Jusuf Kalla and relevant Papuan authorities that West Irian Jaya's controversial creation be referred back to Law No. 21/2001 on Papua's special autonomy and to the government regulation concerning the formation of the Papuan People's Assembly (MRP).

Kalla said the gubernatorial election could be held only after the formal correction of the new province's legal formation was completed.

"The settlement of the Papua issue must be based on the special autonomy law and the government regulation on the MRP," he said after the meeting with Papuan figures at his office here, during which the agreement was reached.

Under the law and the government regulation, the division of Papua into one or more provinces must obtain the approval of the Papua legislature, governor and MRP.

However, the West Irian Jaya province was officially created last year by the central government before the MRP was established. The assembly was inaugurated earlier this month.

The Thursday meeting with Kalla was the first since the new province was initiated in 2003, which met with strong opposition from within Papua.

Attending the meeting were Coordinating Minister for Political, Security and Legal Affairs Widodo A.S., Minister of Home Affairs M. Ma'ruf, Papua governor Jaap Solossa, local legislative council speaker John Ibo and MRP chairman Agus Aluwe.

Agus Aluwe said the correction was needed because the formation of the new province was not based on a strong legal foundation.

However, he could not say whether the MRP would approve the new province's formation as the issue remained controversial among Papuan people.

Earlier this year, the Constitutional Court annulled the establishment of Central Irian Jaya province but ruled that the creation of West Irian Jaya province could proceed. The establishment of the two new provinces was based on Law No. 45/1999.

Kalla said that in accordance with the law, the provincial legislature and MRP would hold separate meetings to give their approvals to the formation of the West Irian Jaya province.

"After that, the government will enact a regulation in lieu of law to give a legal basis for the new province's establishment," the Vice President added.

He said the Papua partition issue was expected to be settled by the end of 2005.

Kalla and the Papua leaders also agreed that despite being partitioned into two provinces, they would remain closely linked in terms of culture, social aggregation and economy.