President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo – Victor Mambor
Jayapura, Jubi – Jakarta – A dialogue that has been proposed by the Papua Peace Network seems to hit the wall, after Indonesian President Joko Widodo said such a forum is not needed any more.
In the interview with Jubi on Saturday (9/5/2015), Jokowi said: “There are no problems in Papua. So, what is a dialogue for? I’ve often come to Papua and had conversations with the customary chiefs, religious leaders, regents, and mayor as well. We are talking and communicating. What does it mean? It’s a dialogue, isn’t it?” Jokowi said.
When told that what Papuans wanted was a political dialogue, he said politics in terms of Papua is the politic of welfare. “Well, our politics in Papua is the politics of development, the politics of prosperity,” he said.
What about the resolution for the conflicts that occurred in the past? “The case is closed. We must open a new page. We should move forward,” he said.
Separately, the member of Papua Legislative Council’s Commission I for Politic, Government, Legal and Human Right, Ruben Magay said during the time Papuans wanted a dialogue between Jakarta and Papua to resolve many issues occurred in the eastern province of Indonesia. “When celebrating Christmas in Papua in December 2014, Jokowi promised about the dialogue. Now the people of Papua are waiting when it would be done,” said Magay. (Victor Mambor/rom)
