Jakarta – A prestigious American think tank is urging the Indonesian government to make use of a "window of opportunity" to resolve unrest in Papua, and also calls on the international community to help expedite the process.
The Washington-based Council on Foreign Relations said the emergence of a democratically elected government and the dawn of peace in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam have provided a conducive climate for positive change in Papua.
"The next two years are a critical period in which the government and Papuans should embark on bold initiatives toward peace, before the 2009 presidential and legislative elections begin looming," said the 35-page report titled Peace in Papua: Widening a Window of Opportunity.
"Within Papua, conditions are also ripe for a solution... The Papuan public has appeared willing to give the new administration the benefit of the doubt".
While the report focused on the available opportunities, it also warned that lethargy on the part of the central government was beginning to reverse the positive views. It suggests some Papuans are becoming frustrated by the lack of respect for their concerns, and are beginning to regard the current administration as no different from previous ones.
Compounding difficulties is the controversy over Papua's division into smaller provinces. Furthermore, while money is being channeled to the region, local officials seem ill-prepared to deal with the influx of developmental funds.
The author of the report, Blair A. King, encourages the Indonesian government to, among other things, fully implement special autonomy, engage with legitimate representatives of the community, improve local governance and reform security arrangements to end rights abuses.
Fluent in Indonesian and a seven-year resident of this country, King is currently senior program manager for Asia at the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs in Washington DC.
Rather than stooping to Indonesia bashing, the report encourages the United States, Europe, Japan, Australia and fellow members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to help prod Indonesia forward through "quiet but firm diplomacy".
The report also advocates a joint US$50 million technical assistance package to help improve local governance.
"Failure to take advantage of the current window of opportunity will prolong the suffering of the Papuan people, rendering a peaceful resolution of the conflict increasingly unlikely," it said.