W. Irian Jaya governor illegitimate: Court

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta

The Papuan people's campaign against the province's division has received a major boost after the State Administrative Court ruled on Tuesday against a law appointing Abraham Octavianus Atururi as West Irian Jaya governor.

Several prominent Papuan figures immediately called on the government to comply with the court's ruling that Presidential Decree No. 213/2003 appointing the governor was contrary to the 2001 law on special autonomy. They warned Papuan people would lose trust in the central government if the court ruling went unheeded.

Simon Patris Morin, a Golkar Party legislator from Papua, urged President Megawati Soekarnoputri to abide by the verdict. Megawati would have to recognize the Papuan people's opposition to her decree if she wished to win their support in the coming presidential election, he said.

Provincial legislature speaker John Ibo and the Advocacy Team for Papua's Special Autonomy have asked the Constitutional Court for a judicial review of the decree that enforces Law No. 45/1999 on the formation of West and Central Irian Jaya provinces in Papua.

The court has delayed its hearing of the case because of its heavy workload. It is currently hearing hundreds of election disputes involving political parties and Regional Representative candidates that contested the legislative election in April.

Deputy speaker of the Papuan legislature Paskalis Kasai said Papuan leaders were aware of the central government's attempts to railroad them into accepting the division.

"Jakarta has suspended the disbursement of special autonomy funds worth Rp 1.6 trillion as Papua (provincial government) refuses to allocate a part of it to West Irian Jaya. Jakarta is also organizing a ceremony in Biak to announce the establishment of the Central Irian Jaya province in the near future," he said.

The declaration creating the Central Irian Jaya province was suspended in August last year following a bloody clash between supporters and opponents of the new province in Timika. Six people died in the conflict and dozens of others were injured.

There is widespread opposition in Papua to the division of the province. Many people have criticized the central government for its inconsistency in enforcing the special autonomy law and its decision to split the natural resource-rich province for security and economic reasons.

Meanwhile, director general of public administration and regional autonomy affairs at the Home Ministry Oentarto Sindung Mawardi said the government would lodge an appeal against the ruling with the High Administrative Court. The state court had failed to take the government's explanation about the presidential decree into consideration, Oentarto said.

"The government's decision to enforce Law No. 45/1999 and the appointment of Atururi as acting governor in West Irian Jaya are not against Law No. 21/2001 because all three provinces will enjoy special autonomy," he said.

Oentarto said Papua Governor Jaap Salossa had earlier proposed the development of Papua into five -- not three -- provinces.

He denied allegations the government was set to announce the formation of the Central Irian Jaya province in Biak and had suspended the special autonomy funds' disbursement.

"The special autonomy funds for the first and second quarters of the 2003 fiscal year have been disbursed, while the third and fourth quarters will follow," he said.