02/12/2020
The United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) has commenced forming a new ‘Provisional Government’ in West Papua yesterday (Tuesday, December 1 2020).
The announcement marks an intensification of the struggle against Indonesia’s colonisation of the territory, ongoing since 1963.
The new government-in-waiting aims to mobilise the people of West Papua to achieve a referendum on independence, after which it will take control of the territory and organise democratic elections. Indonesian repression currently renders elections impossible.
This move is a direct rejection of Jakarta’s attempts to extend ‘Special Autonomy’ provisions in West Papua. ‘Special Autonomy’, first imposed in 2001, will expire at the end of the year, and is the target of a mass petition sponsored by 102 civil society organisations across West Papua. Thirty-six people were arrested in Manokwari and Sorong on Friday after raising the banned Morning Star flag.