Indonesian political culture has strongly affected shaping Indonesian’s elite. One of which is the elites from Papua. They learned a lot from the political system in Indonesia. Many of them study at universities in big cities such as Makassar, Manado, Jogja, Semarang, etc.
An anthropologist as well as Papua observer, Dr. I Ngurah Suryawan, in the discussion on Stop Standard Fraud: Regional Expansion & New Middle Class in West Papua, on Monday night (22/2) believed that the characteristics of the elites from Papua were similar to the style of Indonesian political.
“The Indonesian political culture has greatly influenced the elites in Papua,” he said.
Understanding the pattern of Indonesian political culture has brought purposes for elites from Papua not to reduce the power of the state itself but to develop Papua through direct access to the Indonesian resources instead. This condition is because they do not have access to the production devices.
“The ones who have controls on production devices are the investors. Therefore, they have less power in controlling the production devices. However, they put the focus on controlling the results of the expansion process from their areas,” he said.
For Ngurah, this issue is no longer about permission but more about the regulation. The overlapped regulations might create chances to open up.
Before the busy expansion issue today, Irian Jaya was divided into three regions: Irian Jaya, West Irian Jaya, and Central Irian Jaya. He also added that the West Papua formation’s success had encouraged the territorial division of Southwest Papua since 2007. On January 15, 2007, a declaration announced that its territory includes Sorong Regency, Sorong City, Raja Ampat Regency, Bintuni Bay Regency (“Sorong Raya”).
The elites from Papua tried to implement the democratic system in forming Southwest Papua. They hired bureaucratic clerks that reflect Sorong Raya tribes. In other words, there must be consent from all tribes in Sorong Raya to realize a solid bureaucratic and government system.
“Some officers must be tough and educated to fulfill their purposes and needs for their hometowns. Since they must have been prepared to manage the Papua expansion later, they are provided master or doctoral education to improve their self-capacity in UGM and Unpad,” he said.
In the Eight Anthropology Seri organized by UGM Faculty of Cultural Sciences, DIY Indonesian Anthropoli Association, Prof. Cahyo Pamungkas, from LIPI discussed the history of the idea of Papua expansion that had already been planned since 1982. The local elites from Papua took advantage of this situation for the sake of their groups, community, and interests.
The Council of Papua Customary did not refuse the idea of Papua expansion as long as it is suitable for their communities’ needs.
