Jakarta – A pro-independence activist Saturday denounced a government plan to quell separatist sentiment in Indonesia's easternmost province by setting up a local legislature, saying the body would be unrepresentative and lack strong political powers.

The comments by Thaha Al-Hamid come after Jakarta on Friday rejected a proposal from tribal elders in restive Papua province to elect their own representatives to the proposed Papua People's Assembly. "Things will sour unless there is a willingness from Jakarta to sit down with the local Papuans and find a solution," the pro-independence activist said from the Papuan capital of Jayapura. "This is an illegal move."

The central government also reduced the proposed assembly's powers by prohibiting it from vetoing administrative and political decisions by the Papua governor or lawmakers, who are mostly chosen by Jakarta. Instead, the assembly would be confined to discussing cultural issues such as indigenous people's rights, Thaha said.

Rebels have maintained a low-level insurgency in Papua, a remote province 2,300 kilometers east of Jakarta, since Indonesia took over the region from the Dutch in 1963. Jakarta's sovereignty over the region was formalized in 1969 through a stage-managed vote by about 1,000 community leaders.