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MRP calls House, government to suspend plan for new provinces in Papua
“It is not the time for new administrative regions [to be established], and this is not the only answer to bring prosperity to Papuans," MRP chairperson Timotius Murib said.
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Papuan students protest against the government's plan to develop new administrative areas in the country's easternmost region, in Malang, East Java, on March 21, 2022. (AFP/Putri)
T
he House and the government should postpone the deliberation process for a set of bills that will create three new provinces in Papua otherwise it will further stoke tensions in the restive region and marginalize indigenous Papuans, the Papuan People’s Assembly (MRP) has warned.
In a plenary meeting last week, lawmakers endorsed three bills, all of which are listed as the House’s initiative, which would act as a legal basis for the establishment of South Papua, Central Papua and Papua Central Highlands provinces.
The endorsement, which came before the House entered recess, means that the three bills will be open to be deliberated with the government in the next sitting session. House Commission II member overseeing home affairs Rifqinizamy Karsayuda previously said the commission aimed to pass the bills into law before June.
Read also: House seeks speedy deliberation to establish new provinces in Papua
The move to accelerate the bills’ deliberation came despite a judicial review petition filed by MRP members with the Constitutional Court to challenge several new provisions of the Papua Special Autonomy Law.
The amended law, which was passed by lawmakers last year, includes a provision that allows the House and the government to create new provinces, cities and regencies without the approval of the MRP or the existing regional legislative councils (DPRP). In the previous version of the law, the creation of new administrative areas could go ahead only after being approved by the MRP and DPRP.
