Special Autonomy Gives Papua More Authority to Regulate Its Territory

On November 21, the regulation on Special Autonomy (Otsus) for Papua will now be more than 20 years since the enactment of Law Number 21 of 2001 concerning Special Autonomy for Papua Province. The twists and turns of the Papua Special Autonomy policy cannot be separated from the long history between the Papua region, which was still called Irian Jaya and the Central Government before the reform.

At that time, many incidents of injustice received by Papua caused various problems in the past which referred to the process of disintegration in Papua which resulted in socio-economic injustice experienced by the Papuan people. The conditions at that time coincided with the Indonesian economic crisis in 1998 which prompted the birth of a reform movement that changed the course of the national political, social and economic map.

These momentums are used by indigenous people in Papua to reform the relationship between the Government and Papua with the aim of placing Papua as an area that has the same development priority as other regions in Indonesia.

After Law Number 21 of 2001, the Indonesian people can witness the positive changes that have occurred in Papua. Especially after undergoing changes in 2021, the Special Autonomy Law for Papua also increasingly leads to reducing disparities between regions in Papua by applying a bottom-up and top-down regional structuring approach while still prioritizing the principles of democracy and efficiency.
 
The provisions of the regulation of Law Number 2 of 2021 concerning the Second Amendment to Law Number 21 of 2001 concerning Special Autonomy for the Papua Province (UU Otsus Papua) is basically a granting of broad authority for the province and the people of Papua to regulate and administer its own territory while still adhering to the framework of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia.

The authority granted by the government through Otsus also means the authority to empower the socio-cultural and economic potential of the Papuan people, including providing an adequate role for Papuan Indigenous People through representatives of adat, religion, and women.

“Otsus for the Papua Province is basically the granting of wider authority for the Province and the Papuan people to regulate and manage themselves within the framework of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia. Wider authority also means greater responsibility for the Province and the Papuan people to administer the government and regulate the utilization of natural resources in the Papua Province for the maximum benefit of the Papuan people as part of the Indonesian people in accordance with the laws and regulations," explained the Commission Member. III DPR Supriansa in the session on Case Number 47/PUU-XIX/2021 which was held on December 13, 2021.

With the existence of the Special Autonomy Law, the Papuan Provincial Government has a fairly broad authority compared to other provinces' authority as part of the Papuan specialty to regulate the Papua region by itself in accordance with the conditions there. What makes this Special Autonomy Law different from other regions is the special autonomy located at the provincial level where the provincial government has more dominant authority than district/city governments so that it can delegate, coordinate and control the implementation of the Papua Special Autonomy Law.

The seriousness of realizing acceleration in Papua so that they can get facilities and infrastructure that are equivalent to other regions is certainly not enough just to be realized with regulations alone. Strong support is also needed from all parties, both from Papuans and the entire Indonesian nation who work hand in hand in building and supporting a more advanced and developing Papua.

SOURCE: https://www.minded-rakyat.com/nasional/pr-015768278/otsus-gikan-papua-keauthoran-more-to-regulate-territory