Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The Papua People's Assembly on Monday issued a ruling stating that only native Papuans could run for the posts of regent or mayor in the province.

The new requirement is stipulated in a 2009 provincial decree and has received support from the Papuan administration office and the Papuan and West Papuan Legislative Councils.

"So, regent and mayor hopefuls in Papua and West Papua need the approval of the Assembly before they can register themselves at the local offices of the General Elections Commission [KPUD], in addition to being endorsed by their respective political parties," Papua KPUD head Benny Sweni said in Jayapura.

He added that tempers at the meeting flared, with some representatives opposing the ruling, before all parties came to a final agreement. "The meeting was tense, but in the end everyone supported the Assembly's decision," he said.

The Assembly's decree, Benny added, should have ideally been based on the provincial regulation, but as the process would have taken a long time, they decided that a gubernatorial decree was enough to facilitate the ruling.

"The Papua and West Papua gubernatorial decree has given the Assembly the authority to issue recommendations for candidates for regent and mayor and their deputies," Benny said. "The decree should be able to fulfill the aspirations of native Papuans."

Commission A chairman at the Papua Legislative Council Weynard Watori expressed his gratitude for the ruling, saying that political parties nominating candidates would enclose a letter of recommendation from the Assembly when they registered at KPUD offices.

"A party caretaker must hold a recommendation letter from the Assembly before nominating a candidate," Weynard said.

This year, 14 regencies and municipalities in Papua and seven regencies in West Papua are scheduled to hold elections.

However, the director of the Papuan Institute for Strengthening Civilians, Budi Setiyanto, said the Assembly's 2009 decree contradicted a 2001 law. He said that the law did not stipulate that the Assembly could issue recommendations for candidates for regent and mayor and their deputies.

"This ruling is inconsistent. If the Assembly's decree is enforced, a revision of the 2001 law will be required," Budi told The Jakarta Post.

He also stressed the need to educate political parties on the decree and its ramifications. "In the short term, political parties that nominate their candidates will intensively lobby Assembly members. This does not violate the law or human rights and is not discriminative.

However, in the long term, the 2001 law must be revised. If not the Assembly's decree or the gubernatorial decree will still be in breach of the law," he said.