The Chairperson of the Indonesian Parliament’s Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation Agency, Fadli Zon, met with representatives of parliaments of countries that are members of the Melanesian Spearhead Group. The meeting between the Indonesian Parliament and the Melanesian Spearhead Group corrected incorrect information about West Papua.

“We convey accurate information on developments in West Papua or the West Papua issue, which I think a lot of the information from them is incorrect or disinformation,” said Fadli Zon.

The meeting with representatives of the Melanesian Spearhead Group was held in a dialogue on the sidelines of the 2nd Session of the Indonesia-Pacific Parliamentary Partnership held in Jakarta, Thursday (25/7). The countries that are members of the Melanesian Spearhead Group are Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu.

The forum is an initiative of the Indonesian Parliament to strengthen partnerships in the Pacific region, where the first meeting was held in 2018.

At the meeting, the Indonesian Parliament delegation was led directly by the Speaker of the Indonesian Parliament Puan Maharani accompanied by Fadli Zon and Deputy Speaker of the Indonesian Parliament Lodewijk F Paulus. Meanwhile, for the Melanesian Spearhead Group, those who attended were the Speaker of the Republic of Fiji Parliament Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu, Speaker of the Solomon Islands Parliament John Patteson Oti, Member of the Papua New Guinea Parliament Johnson Wapunai, and the Director General of the Melanesian Spearhead Group who is a figure from Papua New Guinea, Leonard Louma.

At the meeting which was wrapped in a parliamentary dialogue session, Puan detailed the major development of West Papua that Indonesia has carried out. These Pacific countries directly border Papua and they often highlight the issue of West Papua in international forums, such as the UN.

Fadli said that the explanation from the Indonesian Parliament regarding the development and actual conditions of West Papua could correct misinformation.

“We are the ones who represent the people, so we conveyed the developments earlier. There is a lot of disinformation, wrong information, maybe propaganda that is not true about what is happening in West Papua,” he explained.

“On the contrary, many civilians have become victims of violence from parties who want separatism, so we need to explain to them,” added Fadli.

During a dialogue with the Melanesian Spearhead Group, it was explained that the Indonesian Government has prioritized development in Indonesia’s outermost regions, including West Papua. Puan said that the increase in development in West Papua includes thousands of highways and many other infrastructure facilities such as hundreds of schools, several airports, ports, and equal distribution of electricity.

The Indonesian Parliament emphasized that development in West Papua has also been able to increase the Human Development Index and reduce poverty levels significantly. It was also conveyed that the Indonesian Parliament also plays an important role in strengthening political institutions, strengthening democracy, and implementing the Special Autonomy for West Papua.

One of them is by supporting the full implementation of the West Papua Special Autonomy Law through the establishment of the West Papua People’s Assembly as a representative institution for West Papuans. The Indonesian Parliament also supports the special status of West Papua by giving Papua the authority to formulate legislation that is unique to West Papua.

“We also explained the support of the Indonesian Parliament including the expansion or division of provinces from 2 to 6 provinces in West Papua. The developments there, road expansion, infrastructure, health and others were also conveyed by the Chairwoman,” said Fadli.

Fadli said that members of the Melanesian Spearhead Group admitted that they often received incorrect information from certain parties. After giving an explanation, Fadli said that members of the Melanesian Spearhead Group were grateful for the explanation from the Indonesian Parliament regarding West Papua.

“They appreciate it because they get information that comes from us as a parliament that represents the people and they also happen to have a parliamentary system,” he said.

For your information, the Melanesian Spearhead Group is an intergovernmental organization of Melanesian countries in the Pacific region whose members are Fiji, Front de Liberation Nationale Kanak et Socialiste (FLNKS), Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu.

Vanuatu is a member of the Melanesian Spearhead Group that often accuses of human rights violations against indigenous Papuans, but turns a blind eye to the separatist movement there. At the 76th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA), Vanuatu’s Prime Minister, Bob Loughman, in his speech mentioned the lack of progress in Human Rights in West Papua.

In 2019, Vanuatu smuggled West Papuan separatist figure, Benny Wenda, to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, where Benny submitted a petition for an independence referendum. Vanuatu has also often spoken out loudly for West Papuan independence at UN forums, even though the session agenda did not discuss the issue.

During the Melanesian Spearhead Group Summit held in Vanuatu, the Indonesian delegation that attended decided to walk out or leave the forum when the West Papuan separatist leader and ULMWP Chair, Benny Wenda, was allowed to deliver a speech.

Not only Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands as a member of the Melanesian Spearhead Group has also been involved in the West Papua issue. In August 2023, the country asked Indonesia to allow the UN Human Rights Commission to visit Papua.

The demand was stated in the 22nd Melanesian Spearhead Group Leader’ Summit Adopts Communique document released on the Solomon Islands government website. Indonesia itself is a member of the Melanesian Spearhead Group Associate Member considering that there are several provinces in eastern Indonesia that are part of the Pacific region and there are also Melanesian groups, namely Maluku, North Maluku, East Nusa Tenggara, and 6 provinces in Papua

Therefore, Fadli said that the meeting between the Indonesian Parliament and the Melanesian Spearhead Group yesterday was quite influential. This approach through parliamentary diplomacy is expected to open new perspectives for the Melanesian Spearhead Group countries regarding West Papua, especially since the Indonesian Parliament also invited the Chairperson of the Indonesian National Human Rights Committee, Atnike Nova Sigiro to the meeting to provide a report regarding West Papua.

“They really appreciate our statements and they also conveyed their views but in general they were positive. Moreover, we invited the National Human Rights Committee as an independent institution to report on the situation and conditions in West Papua,” explained Fadli.

The Melanesian Spearhead Group even requested that there be a special forum between the parliaments of the Melanesian Spearhead Group countries and the Indonesian Parliament. Moreover, Fadli said that the Melanesian Spearhead Group countries also wanted to cooperate with the Indonesian parliament.

“They saw the need for a more routine forum between Indonesia and the parliaments of the Melanesian Spearhead Group countries, we agreed. Even earlier there was a request that there could be an MoU between the Indonesian Parliament and the Melanesian Spearhead Group parliament,” said Fadli.

“We said we will discuss and follow up. I think that was a very positive thing in the meeting and we hope there will be further meetings,” Fadli concluded.