VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The term of the Papuan People’s Assembly (MRP) -- the assembly in charge of protecting the Papuan people's rights and culture -- will be extended till June 2023, Deputy Home Minister John Wempi Wetipo informed.



"We will extend the Papuan People's Assembly term to June 2023. Why? (Because) we need to fill the vacancy in the Papua and West Papua province (MRPs) while we set up the selection committee," he explained here on Tuesday.



The deputy minister earlier accompanied Vice President Ma'ruf Amin, as the head of the Papua Special Autonomy Advancement Steering Committee (BP3OKP), to a meeting with Papuan officials, including the heads of Papuan people's assemblies of Papua and West Papua.




Apart from adjusting the MRP membership in Papua province following the separation of three-quarters of its area into new provinces, the authority will assist in the selection of members to the new MRPs in South Papua, Highland Papua, Central Papua, and Southwest Papua, he informed.



"At our internal meeting, presided by the home minister, we agreed to extend the MRP term until the establishment of the selection committee and until we have new MRP members," Wetipo said.



Meanwhile, Speaker of the Papua People's Representative Council (DPRP), Johny Banua Rouw, said that the regional legislature had proposed the term extension.

"DPRP needs the MRP to provide their consideration in the special region regulation drafting to prevent a government shutdown because we could still (deliberate) the regulation draft," Rouw added.



The regional parliament speaker appealed to the vice president to allow DPRP members to continue serving the constituents who have voted for them, though their constituents are now, administratively, in new provinces.



He also urged the central authority to consider the addition of parliamentary seats for each new province in Papua.



"With the establishment of new autonomous regions, which divided Papua into four provinces, and considering that Papua only had 10 seats in the 2019 election, we urge that each province in Papua, the existing and the new provinces, be allocated at least four seats," Rouw said. (antaranews)