"Therefore, President Widodo has the most important role in bringing about peace in Papua," the Study Team`s chief, Adriana Elisabeth, stated.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Papua Study Team of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) has assessed that the people of Papua only trust President Joko Widodo and not the ministers of his cabinet.

"Therefore, President Widodo has the most important role in bringing about peace in Papua," the Study Teams chief, Adriana Elisabeth, stated here on Thursday.

President Widodo had expressed willingness to hold a dialog with the local people during his visit to Papua last year.

Following this, LIPI had called for holding a national dialog to solve the problems in Papua.

To this end, the team recommended four series of initial dialog that could be held simultaneously.

"The first talk is between the president and the three pillars of Papua (local government, regional representatives council, and regional assembly)," Elisabeth noted.

The opening dialog is a discussion among ministries, government agencies, and Papuas council as well as a talk on sectoral issues.

"The government still considers holding the dialog a taboo. There are fears that the dialog could trigger a sense of yearning for independence among the people," Elisabeth remarked.

"The dialog is aimed at discussing different interests and not to discuss the position," Elisabeth affirmed.

Earlier, the Papua Study Team of LIPI had proposed that a special envoy be appointed to help hold a national dialog as part of the efforts to achieve peace in Papua and West Papua.

"A special envoy is required to follow up with President Widodo to hold a dialog with the people of Papua," Elisabeth stated here on Tuesday.

Elisabeth pointed out that the special representative should fulfill four criteria. Firstly, such an agent should be someone who enjoys the trust of President Widodo.

"Secondly, the envoy should understand the real problems in Papua, accurately and objectively. Thirdly, he or she should have never been involved in the formation of civilian militias that support Papuas independence," Elisabeth noted.

"Civilian and military personnel may work as special deputies to President Widodo," Elisabeth remarked.

As a result, the special deputy could work effectively and enjoy greater legitimacy in the dialog process.

In addition, the emissary would not look for any single party to represent the community but could involve several elements of the society in the national dialog.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2016