The Revision of Special Autonomy Is Believed to Make Papuans Prosperous

Member of the DPR RI from the West Papua Electoral District, Jimmy Demianus Ijie, assessed that the revision of Special Autonomy would prosper the people. As long as the implementation really touches the problems in Papua.

"We have not received the revised draft, indeed yesterday in the plenary session the chairman of the DPR (Puan Maharani) said that he had received a letter from the President regarding the revision of the Papua Special Autonomy Law, but as members of the DPR we have not received the draft," said Jimmy in Webinar Series # 20 entitled "Can the Papua Special Autonomy Revision be able to guarantee the future and welfare of Papua?" organized by PSKP.

The leadership of the DPR RI itself has received a Presidential Letter (Surpres) regarding the discussion of the Revision of Law (UU) Number 21 of 2001 concerning Special Autonomy (Otsus) for Papua. The letter will be followed up at the next trial period. However, not all members of the DPR RI have accepted the revised draft of the Special Autonomy.

Jimmy emphasized that the Papua problem is not only a financial one, but also a matter of authority.

"We need authority, does the government really make Otsus a solution to the problems of the Papuan people or not? that's what I have seen so far, "he said. As the DPR RI from the Electoral District of West Papua, continued Jimmy, he kept shouting for the future of society. According to him, the government and the people of Papua need to discuss, sit together to discuss the revision of the Special Autonomy Law.

"This revision cannot be like a patchwork, just come and talk about this article and finish, no. We have to talk about the reasons why the Papuan people conclude that Otsus for the past 20 years has not been successful. That is what we have to sit down and discuss, "he explained.

"We see Otsus as a blank check for Papuans. The implementation is unclear, he said, lex specialis, but in fact it is lex generalis. As a former chairman of the West Papua DPRD I spent two periods there, we talked about many times at the center but it was always stuck, "he continued.

Jimmy again explained that the issue of authority he meant was to self-regulate or manage natural resources (HR), be it oil and gas, sea and forest. "Actually, the government is serious about not giving Otus to Papua?" he said.

He considered, it is not surprising if the Papuan people think that the existence of Otsus has not had any impact. If you want to be serious, Jimmy suggested that the government learn from the Bosano Provincial Government in Italy, and Alan Islands in Firland. Both countries have successfully implemented Otsus for their people.

“Bosano has experienced something like Papua, decades of experiencing Otsus were unsuccessful. Then the Otsus negotiations for the eleventh year were given a referendum. The result was that the majority chose to remain in Italy. It needs to be an example for Indonesia. But it seems that the government has just given the Special Autonomy Law, yes a law without authority is tantamount to nonsense, "he accused.

Finally, Jimmy warned that the revision of the Papua Special Autonomy Law should not be rushed, just because it is catching up with a time that will end in 2021.