Mahfud Md, TNI Commander Andika Perkasa Talk of Papua Issues

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Mahfud Md received a visit from the Indonesian Military Commander General Andika Perkasa at his office in Central Jakarta, Thursday, November 25.

They discussed two main issues during the meeting; issues on Papua and human rights violations.

“The first issue is a new approach to handling Papua conflicts. In principle, the approach has been stated in Presidential Instruction No. 9 of 2020 and Presidential Decree No. 20 of 2020,” Mahfud said in an online press conference after the meeting.

He explained that the government expected to apply an approach that prioritizes a comprehensive and synergistic welfare development. “This means it does not use weapons, but welfare,” said Mahfud.

Meanwhile, the technical approach will be a territorial operation, not a combat operation. Mahfud revealed that Andika had explained his various ideas about the new approach.

However, Andika stopped short of disclosing his ideas and promised to explain more clearly when he later visit Papua.

“I consider the legal basis issued by the government. And I will explain it in detail later when I visit Papua next week,” said Andika.

The second topic is severe human rights violations involving the military, such as the Paniai case that occurred in the era of President Joko Widodo.

“The Commander in Chief will coordinate with us. It will be based on the law. Both the procedure and the evidence will be examined later. We will surely coordinate with the Commander and the Attorney General's Office,” said Mahfud Md.

Read: Police, TNI Discuss New Approach to Papua Conflict Resolution

EGI ADYATAMA