W. Irian Jaya expected to delay election

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.