WEST IRIAN JAYA PROVINCE RENAMED "WEST PAPUA"

UNCLAS JAKARTA 001339

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/MTS, INR/GGI AND INR/EAP

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV ID
SUBJECT: WEST IRIAN JAYA PROVINCE RENAMED "WEST PAPUA"



1. (U) The Indonesian Department of Home Affairs issued a
directive on April 18 officially changing the name of West
Irian Jaya province to West Papua ("Papua Barat" in Bahasa
Indonesia). Post reporting will henceforth reflect the new
usage.


2. (U) The Home Affairs directive provides a transition
period of one year during which time the new name as well as
the old will be officially acceptable. After April 18, 2008,
only the new name will be used. The political leaders in
both Papua and West Papua provinces are on board with the
change, which has been under discussion since well before
direct elections for governor on March 10, 2006. At an April
18 summit in Biak, Papua Governor Barnabas Suebu, West Papua
Governor Bram Atururi and the leaders of both provincial
parliaments and the Papuan People's Council (Majelis Rakyat
Papua) signed off on an agreement using the name West Papua
for the province with its capital at Manokwari.


3. (U) The change will initially cause a certain amount of
controversy and confusion among foreign Papua watchers. For
years, "West Papua" has been a term used by some activists to
describe Indonesia's half of New Guinea, and it has become
associated with the separatist cause. At least one foreign
academic has alleged that by bringing the term into official
usage, the GOI is attempting to undermine the separatist
movement.


4. (U) In Indonesia, however, the move is not controversial
and is regarded by most as a positive step. It reflects the
improving relationship between the governors of Papua and
West Papua, and is part of an ongoing effort to correct West
Papua's questionable legal basis, which has been in limbo
since the Constitutional Court issued an ambiguous ruling on
the matter in November 2004.


5. (U) Moreover, the old name Irian Jaya had become an
anachronism. Originally designating all of former Dutch New
Guinea, it was used in Sukarno's campaign to annex the
territory and subsequently in the Suharto regime's strategy
to integrate it into the rest of Indonesia. While some have
advanced dubious claims that the name "Irian" actually exists
in a local Papuan language, the generally accepted
explanation is that it is an artificial acronym derived from
the nationalist Bahasa Indonesia slogan, "Ikut Republik
Indonesia Anti Nederlands" ("Follow the anti-Dutch Indonesian
Republic"). "Jaya" simply means "great" or "victorious."
For this reason, the vast majority of indigenous Papuans
welcomed then-President Abdurrachman Wahid's 1999 decision to
replace "Irian Jaya" with "Papua" as the name of the province
with its capital at Jayapura. The move to rename West Irian
Jaya eliminates a lingering incongruity.
HEFFERN