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resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, who is seeking a second term in office, may get fewer votes in West Papua and Papua in this year’s presidential election than he obtained in the previous election, as he faces mounting criticism for failing to resolve cases of human rights violations in the country’s easternmost provinces.

In the 2014 election, West Papua and Papua were Jokowi’s main source of political capital, as around 72 percent of Papuan voters supported him. Prabowo Subianto — his challenger back then and again this year —
got 28 percent.

At the time, Jokowi, who is the first Indonesian president not to come from the political or military elite, was seen as a new hope, because he also promised to resolve cases of human rights violations across the country, in addition to reducing the socioeconomic gap through infrastructure and other development projects.

Jokowi promised the people of Papua that he would not let them continue to suffer as a result of the long-standing “Javacentric” paradigm of development.

He set out plans for basic infrastructure, including roads and railways. The trans-Papua road is still being constructed in the resource-rich region. However, his ambition to develop the regions did little to assuage the Papuan people’s concern that he had not been listening to fears relating to human rights violations in West Papua and Papua over the last four years.

On Wednesday, two groups campaigning for the independence of what they call West Papua, the Papuan Students Alliance (AMP) and the Jakarta-based Indonesian People’s Front for West Papua (FRI-WP), announced that they would boycott the upcoming presidential election as they believed neither candidate would give the Papuan people the right to determine their destiny themselves. West Papua and Papua, the two Indonesian provinces on the island of New Guinea, were integrated into Indonesia after colonization by the Dutch. This integration has been the cause of controversy for more than 60 years.

“I totally agree with their [call for a boycott], because Jokowi has been closing his ears to the issues of the Papuan, including the Paniai case,” Papuan pro-independence activist Filep Karma said during a discussion
on Thursday.

He was referring to the unresolved human rights violation case in Paniai, Papua, in which five civilians, including four students, died, allegedly after being shot by security personnel.

“Whoever is elected won’t give us benefits, since we are still facing firearms in our lands,” Filep said.

Thursday’s discussion, titled “Questioning Papua’s Position on Indonesia’s Political Map for the 2019 Presidential Election” was held by Amnesty International Indonesia, the TIFA Foundation and Perkumpulan Jubi on Thursday.

It was attended by various public figures and organizations. Although the organizers had invited a representative of the Executive Office of the President, nobody from that office attended. Representatives of the Jokowi and Prabowo camps, who had also been invited, did not attend the event either.

Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) political researcher Aisah Putri Budiarti said the problems found in Papua and West Papua were not solely related to infrastructure. She said political history, marginalization, human rights violations and infrastructure were the main issues.

“We must really consider these factors in a bid for Papuan development. I have noted that the government has not been going in this direction,” Putri said.

Filep said it was reasonable for the Papuan to abstain from voting due to the human rights abuses still taking place in West Papua and Papua.

“Jokowi still lets the TNI operate in West Papua and Papua,” he said, referring to the Indonesian Military.

In December, the National Liberation Army of West Papua (TPNPB) allegedly kidnapped more than 20 workers of state-owned construction company Istaka Karya, who according to police had been building a bridge in Nduga, Papua. Meanwhile, the TPNPB claimed they were state security personnel.

The group then executed 16 of their captives. Battles between the TNI and the TPNPB have been ongoing ever since. Meanwhile, at least 300 villagers, who left their homes because of the fighting remain in hiding
in a forest.

Rights activists and religious leaders have urged the government to halt construction on the project, which has raised tensions in the province as the incident was likened to a repeat of a 1996 military operation in which civilians, including children, were killed when security forces attacked separatists holding Indonesian and foreign hostages.

“I am really begging the government to pull the military out of the region. People, including children, are really afraid of the situation,” the chairperson of Papua’s Kingmi Church synod, Benny Giay, said during the discussion.

Benny had supported Jokowi in the 2014 presidential election but has stopped supporting the incumbent following his failure to resolve the Paniai incident.

Centre for Strategic and International Studies executive director Philips J. Vermonte said identity, human rights, human capital development and corruption were the main sticking points in Papua and West Papua.

He said the government had not been able to accommodate the cultural identity of the Papuan people, particularly in relation to customary law. Human rights violations were occurring in the two regions while past violations had yet to be resolved.

“This accumulation of violations has made the Papuan people more disappointed,” Philips said during the discussion. He added that the government could have resolved some of the rights violations but had decided not to.

As for human capital development, he said, the government should employ affirmative approaches to enhancing human resources in Papua, as the people there had the potential.

“Lastly, some corruption at the national level is linked to Papua,” Philips added. (das)