Jokowi failed to reduce the conflict in Papua, can we hope for Prabowo?

Prabowo-Gibran, whose candidacy for president and vice president sparked controversy, has been in office since October 20, 2024.

To protect their government, we have published a special edition of #PantauPrabowo which contains important questions resulting from our mapping with the TCID author network. This edition also evaluates the 10 years of Joko Widodo's government and prepares Prabowo-Gibran for office.

The Papuan conflict has lasted since the 1960s one of the longest conflicts in modern human history. Continuous conflicts accompanied by violence, in addition to triggering political instability, also constitute a significant obstacle to the progress of a country.

In the case of Papua itself, the protracted conflict has had profound implications on the lives of indigenous Papuans (OAPs). Impacts include marginalization of the OAP, mass displacement, widespread hunger, endless security unrest, inactive public services and government dysfunction.

This shows that until now, including during Joko Jokowi Widodo's 10 years in power, measures to develop Papua have not been accompanied by concrete measures. global understanding regarding all contexts that occur in the country of Papua. However, problem solving in Papua cannot be based on general logic, let alone standard methods.

For example, although Rufei Modern Market was built by Sorong Municipality, The community, dominated by Papuan mothers, prefers to sell at the traditional Boswesen market.or along the side of the highway. The hope that modern markets will make cities more orderly does not necessarily move PBOs due to differences in understanding and life experience.

Small mistake, development initiatives carried out by the government, even if the objective is good, can actually trigger complications at the local level in the face of problems. complexity (wicked) due to complex and uncertain conditions and differences in values.

Jokowi, who is only a civilian president, fails to resolve the conflict in Papua. In fact, it could be said that he failed to defuse the situation in Papua. So what can we expect from Prabowo, who has a military background and a dark history of human rights violations?

Jokowi: develop Papua, not reduce the conflict

When he was first elected president in 2014, Jokowi is an icon of change. Because Jokowi's election seemed to send the message that ordinary civilians, without gaudy social or military backgrounds, could become Indonesia's leaders.

Instead of being born and raised in a conglomerate family, Jokowi even had one experienced an expulsion as a child. Jokowi's background should instill in him sensitivity towards the weak and those weakened by an unjust political system and social structure.

However, the public, or all of us, misjudged Jokowi. During his period of leadership, Jokowi did not bring much social change, including for the people of Papua.

Of course, Jokowi is the president who visits Papua most often. However, this initiative places more emphasis on physical development and a rigid political approach rather than encouraging participation and recognition of the OAP's identity and conflict transformation.

The government under Jokowi's regime sees modernization as the embodiment of development initiatives. Lots of people do it praised Jokowi's strategy which prioritizes infrastructure development throughout Indonesia, particularly in Papua.

In fact, questions of participation, identity recognition and social transformation are equally crucial, if not the most crucial, questions, but which have not received enough attention.

Results of research conducted by the Gadjah Mada University Papua Task Force (GTP UGM) have revealed a real increase in incidents of violence within Papua communities over the past eight years. Recorded from 2015 to end of June 2023 There have been 378 cases of violence in Papua. The violence perpetrated was dominated by armed groups, followed by violence between members of the community.

This means that the increase in physical development in Papua actually corresponds to the increasing number of deaths from the conflict. This is because there is a fundamental problem that has never been addressed, namely justice.

Jokowi's method emphasizes physical growth to often catch up ignore important thingssuch as discussions, social consolidation and healing of wounds resulting from past state violence in the country of Papua which was the perpetrator still enjoy legal impunity.

Top-down efforts, without involving local communities, are incompatible and endanger the recognition of their needs and existence.

The government must change its approach to one of social justice. This approach allows the community to be involved while ensuring that infrastructure and social investments only benefit the Papuan people.

Another main factor explaining Jokowi's failure to reduce violence in Papua is the absence of a strategy oriented towards organic dialogue with the Papuan people. The lack of transparency regarding past human rights violations and recognition of OAP's identity further exacerbates public discontent.

If the government fails to identify and alleviate the existing underlying problems, initiatives and advances aimed at easing tensions will only be seen as temporary solutions.

Any hope for Prabowo?

Prabowo and Jokowi are clear have different social backgrounds. Prabowo is not only strongly suspected is an actor who violates human rightsbut his past as a retired military officer will more or less evoke his own trauma in the minds of the OAP.

One of Prabowo's controversies concerns his alleged involvement in military operations in Indonesia when he was general commander of Kopassus in 1996-1998. At that time, he was suspected of being the actor who provoked it. detention and enforced disappearance of activists. Apart from this, Prabowo is also suspected involved in the East Timor conflict. Although, Prabowo denied any involvement.

Prabowo's record is worrying public skepticism for efforts to uphold the law and human rights under his leadership.

It's natural the public thinks that Prabowo, as a military man, would be more inclined to resort to military measures to resolve the Papua problem. This assumption may hinder the development of a productive discourse necessary to understand the root causes of the problems of the Papuan people.

It is therefore difficult to expect Prabowo to emphasize persuasive and dialogic strategies to manage conflicts and social problems in Papua. In fact, the Papuan people need leaders who can foster trust through dialogue, humility and recognition of historical mistakes, as well as dedication to efforts to achieve social justice. Without this, efforts to resolve the conflict in Papua will be ineffective.

It should be remembered that the OAP is an ongoing political entity in national and state life. It is therefore important to support and accelerate the development of POSA's human resources.

This means there should be more government Focus on non-physical development first. This is achieved by accelerating the development of culturally superior human beings, recognizing past identities and sins, and being more just.

The government must understand and facilitate the differences in the implications of development in an asymmetrical context, from physical to non-physical development, expanding the space for participation and trying to recognize the interests of the OAP in each formulation of development policies. Papuan development.

Furthermore, in the era of President Prabowo Subianto, the government really needs to pay attention to three main things, namely conflicts, underdevelopment and asymmetric decentralization.

It is this nuance of specificity that Prabowo must understand in order to defuse the conflict. When people in Papua become smarter in their lives, other development issues will be much easier.