Manokwari, Jubi – The West Papua Regional Legislative Council and the West Papua People’s Assembly (MRP) propose that the revision of the Papua Special Autonomy (otsus) Law focuses on the implementation of authority, rather than on budget and regional expansion.
West Papua Legislative Council chairman Orgenes Wonggor said that the additional autonomy budget and the formation of new provinces would run safely and well-targeted had the West Papua Provincial Government able to run its authority as widely as possible, as stipulated in the otsus law.
“As long as the authority [as stipulated] in the otsus law still collides with other interests, the root of the problems in West Papua cannot be resolved through adding more budgets and expanding regions,” said Wonggor on Monday during a meeting held by the Indonesian House of Representative’s Special Committee to discuss the second amendment to the Otsus Law.
Papua Land, or what internationally known as West Papua, comprises of two provinces: Papua Province and West Papua Province.
Wonggor said that the weak authority of the provincial government despite the otsus law, clearly shown in the many obstacles faced by a number of drafts (Raperdasus) to be enacted as special regional regulations (Perdasus).
“Many drafts were not approved by the central government due to various considerations. Meanwhile, the regions need legal protection to maximize the implementation of the otsus law, ” he said.
Head of the House’s special committee Komarudin Watubun, however, was firm that budget and regional expansion would still be a top priority to be discussed as the law revision was the central government’s initiative.
Watubun admitted that the implementation of the special autonomy in Papua during the past 20 years was not optimal due to “sectoral ego”. “Many sectoral laws have collided with the otsus law which has weakened the otsus law,” Watubun said.
The otsus law was passed during the administration of former president Megawati Soekarnoputri to guarantee Papuans the right to manage their own region politically, economically, and culturally. However, many Papuan civil groups have been voicing opposition over the continuation of the otsus status as it has failed to bring about significant change in Papua Land and only legitimizing colonialism.
Reporter: Hans Kapisa
Editor: Edho Sinaga
