Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The four-day Papuan Tribal Community congress has elected Forkorus Yoboisembut as the new Papuan Tribal Council leader, replacing Tom Beanal.

Forkorus, formerly the council's tribal governing chief, was elected Friday on the last day of the congress at the Cendrawasih sport complex in Jayapura city. He will hold the post until 2012.

In a brief speech after his election, Forkorus said his main job, in line with the results of the congress, would be to fight for independence from Indonesia.

"This is the voice of the kampong people and we should fight for it together," he said to the cheers of the some 500 congress participants.

"We do need better living standards, but (the ongoing) development or forced special autonomy that is underway should not stop West Papua's independence, since it is our right to determine our future and those who oppose this are violating our human rights."

The congress was attended by participants from seven tribal regions in Papua and West Papua provinces.

Forkorus said the goal of independence would not be easy to achieve, warning it would require hard work and sacrifice.

"This (goal) is something we must do together. Independence will not be easy to reach, but let's work together to fight for the messages of this second congress," he said.

Not everyone was pleased with the outcome of the congress. Participants from the Pegunungan Tengah tribal region expressed their displeasure with the makeup of the tribal council's new executive board.

"The list of executives fails to represent the seven tribal regions in Papua. None of the executives come from the southern and central regions or Mimika. They are only from the coastal area. "So, this list of new executives fails to represent us," said Dominikus Sorabut.

He said the makeup of the executive board would hamper the tribal council from achieving its goals. "If we, the representatives of the regions, are not being represented in the executive board, it means if we propose a program it might be rejected.

"So, we doubt the council's work in the future will bring about any progress," he said.