Dean Yates, Jakarta – A decision by Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri to split restive Papua into three provinces has created serious tension and could spark violence, a respected think tank said on Wednesday.
The International Crisis Group, based in Brussels, said the move – outlined in a presidential decree that has yet to be implemented – appeared to be an effort to weaken the independence movement in the remote eastern province. Megawati issued the decree in January amid little fanfare.
"The presidential instruction has thrown Papua's administrative status into legal limbo. It has done more to create tension and turmoil in Papua than any government action in years," said Robert Templer, ICG's Asia Programme Director.
Megawati's decree envisages three provinces called West Irian Jaya, Central Irian Jaya and Irian Jaya and calls for the establishment of provincial governments and the drawing up of borders. Government officials were not immediately available to comment.
Papua is a mainly Christian and animist province filled with an array of natural resources in the country's east. A low-level guerrilla conflict has simmered in the giant region for decades, unlike Aceh province in the northwest where an independence war has killed more than 10,000 people since the mid-1970s. The government and Aceh rebels signed a peace pact last December, although that deal has begun to unravel.
The ICG report, called "Dividing Papua: How not to do it," said the decree was issued without consulting Papuan leaders. The report said the driving force behind the decree was almost certainly the determination of the national intelligence agency BIN and the army to weaken the independence movement.
Political movement said to worry government
Besides small bands of armed rebels, there is an umbrella group of Papuan leaders that seeks independence peacefully, the Papuan Presidium Council. It is this political movement, not the rebels, that diplomats say frightens the government.
"President Megawati apparently issued this decree in an effort to weaken the Papuan independence movement," ICG's Indonesia project director, Sidney Jones, said.
The ICG, which aims to prevent and resolve conflict around the world, has had a presence in Indonesia since 2000, and its views are widely respected in the diplomatic community. Although there have been no reports of violence over the decree, ICG said that could change, especially ahead of Indonesia's 2004 elections, with leaders of both pro- and anti-division groups expected to mobilise their supporters.
It said Indonesia's second biggest party, Golkar, dominated the provincial government and legislature and had suggested the division would benefit Megawati's Indonesia Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P).
"Dividing the province could help Megawati's PDI-P party and weaken it's main rival, Golkar. Already, we're seeing a scramble by some local politicians to join the pro-division camp in the hope of getting access to power and wealth," Jones said.
The official reason for the move was to bring the government closer to the people and speed development, the report said. The report said the decree had effectively thrown away a 2001 special autonomy package worked out with Papuans and which gave them greater say over their affairs. It said the best that could happen was Jakarta would delay implementation of the decree and work on a broader consensus.
The decree had infuriated many Papuans who had an attachment to Papua as a single political entity and undermined moderates who saw autonomy as a way of encouraging independence supporters to work within the Indonesian state, the report added.