With special autonomy funding for Papua approaching its expiration date this year, the government has called for a limited legal revision to allow money to keep flowing and to begin new development projects in the region. Critics, however, believe the government is missing a grand opportunity to review the effectiveness of Papua’s special autonomy status after two troubled decades. Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD announced on Tuesday that the government had proposed revising two articles of the 2001 law granting Papua special autonomy – Article 34 on special autonomy funds and Article 76 on regional expansion. “The special autonomy status was implemented in 2001, and it does not need some kind of extension. What needs to be extended is the funding – the special autonomy funds,” he said at an online workshop ...