President Abdurrahman Wahid on Thursday warned that government forces were ready to face down any effort in the regions, including in Irian Jaya and Aceh, to secede from Indonesia.
"There should be no effort to proclaim (independence), secede from the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia, be that in Irian Jaya, or Papua, or in Aceh," Wahid said in a brief statement broadcast nationwide by state television.
"Any action tending towards this will be faced appropriately by government personnel in line with the mandate of the MPR (the national assembly), the constitution and the prevailing laws," Wahid said.
The speech was delivered as tension mounted in Irian Jaya on the eve of the anniversary of a 1961 independence declaration there, and a day after the government arrested three top Irianese separatist leaders and charged them with subversion.
In a written "political statement of the President of the Republic of Indonesia," sent by the presidential office to AFP, Wahid also called for all sides to maintain security, calm and order.
"Considering the development of the political, social and security situation in Aceh and in Irian Jaya, I call on all sides to maintain calm, security and order in the society," the statement said,
In the statement, Wahid also called on Indonesians "to engage in their daily life in a good manner, without being influenced by the various misleading provocation and agitation."
He did not elaborate.
Wahid said the government was contenting to seek a peaceful solution within the framework of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI) and "prioritizes an approach of dialogue and political communications."
"Any effort to deviate from this spirit and commitment, even more so when in the form of a movement to secede... will certainly be halted, and will be acted on firmly, in line with the mandate of the MPR and the prevailing laws."
Jakarta has warned it would not tolerate any commemoration of the 1961 independence declaration in Irian Jaya -- otherwise known as West Papua -- other than by prayers and meditation.
It has also poured 1,300 crack troops into the province in the past week.
The warning also came a few days ahead of the December 4 anniversary of the proclamation of the Aceh Merdeka (Free Aceh) separatist movement in Aceh province in 1976.
Both provinces, each at one end of the Indonesian archipelago, have seen rising separatist sentiments, especially since the fall of the iron-fisted government of former president Suharto.
In both regions, decades of gross human rights violation by government personnel and forces and the systematic plundering of local natural riches have spawned decades of anti-Jakarta sentiment, and separatism – JAKARTA (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
