Wahid warns Irian Jaya against rebellion

By P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE, JAN. 1. The Indonesian President, Mr. Abdurrahman Wahid, today ruled out secession of the country's province Irian Jaya. He also vowed to ``confront'' unidentified countries that might choose to support an independence movement in that province.

The idea of secession as a prelude to a subsequent step of independence is traceable to the recent example of East Timor.

Mr. Wahid, who witnessed the New Year Day's sunrise from the Trikora guesthouse of the Indonesian military establishment (TNI) in Jayapura, capital of the Irian Jaya province, said he would be agreeable, though, to a rechristening of the territory as ``Papua'' and its capital as ``Port Numbay.''

Following talks with the Irian Jayan officials and opinion makers, Mr. Wahid also tendered Indonesia's apologies for the human rights abuses against freedom-seeking activists and others in that province over a period of time.

Addressing the Irian Jayans, he said: ``Don't ever try to form a State within the unitary State of Indonesia as I will never tolerate it. As long as the 1945 (Indonesian) Constitution remains valid, there is no other way for me except to uphold the law in all possible ways and to the best of my capabilities.''

A unitary form of pan-national governance is the bedrock of that Constitution.

Mr. Wahid did, however, open a window of opportunity that the Irian Jayans could put to use in their quest for separation from the predominantly Islamic Indonesia.

He said he would not mind if the Irian Jayans wanted to engage the authorities in a dialogue on their aspirations. If they were to seek, in that process, to ``build a country within a country,'' he would have to ``confront'' them.

Nonetheless, the Irian Jayans would still have the right, under the new democratic climate, to approach the Indonesian People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) for redress of their grievances.

The MPR could, if it so desired, consider the Irian Jayan aspirations, while his mandate as the President was to ``safeguard the integrity of Indonesia.''

It was against this existential reality for Irian Jaya that Mr. Wahid appealed to other States to refrain from supporting the separatist Free Papua Movement (OPM in local parlance) or any other similar outfit in that or any other Indonesian province.

He said: ``If there are proofs of any assistance (to the OPM or others from foreign countries), we will not hesitate to confront them. I don't care who I (will have to) deal with.''

Mr. Wahid said that his recent foreign tours were, in part, aimed at preventing any possible external assistance to the separatists in several Indonesian provinces. ``I went abroad, not for nothing,'' he said.

Defending the Vice-President, Ms. Megawati Sukarnoputri's latest visit to Hong Kong for catalysing investments into Indonesia, he asked her, though, to rush back home for urgent discussions. The context was the continuing unrest in Ambon and other parts of the Spice Isles, a subject assigned to her.

Fresh arsonist attacks, bomb explosions and rioting were reported in Ambon hours before and after the advent of the New Year.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : International
Previous : Bahrain and Qatar in historic make-up
Next     : No glitches in South-east Asia