W. Irian Jaya governor illegitimate: Court

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.