Prabowo Invites Natalius Pigai To Convince The World About Peace And Development In Papua

President-elect Prabowo Subianto along with a human rights fighter from Papua, Natalius Pigai. (Ist)

JAKARTA - The visit of Elected President Prabowo Subianto to Australia and Papua New Guinea was recently considered effective in convincing Pacific countries regarding Indonesia's commitment to peace and development in Papua.

During the visit, Prabowo, who currently serves as Minister of Defense, was accompanied by the Deputy Chairperson of the Gerindra DPP as well as Deputy Chairman of Commission I of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Sugiono, and a human rights fighter figure from Papua, Natalius Pigai.

The meeting with Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, took place in Canberra on August 20, followed by a meeting with Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister, James Marape, at Port Moresby a day later.

Foreign political observer, DR. Teguh Santosa, assessed that Natalius Pigai's presence during the visit had a symbolic and substantial meaning.

"Bung Natalius Pigai's participation in the visit of Elected President Prabowo Subianto to Australia and Papua New Guinea shows the strong commitment of a new government to create peace and development in Papua," said Teguh in Jakarta, Wednesday, September 4.

Natalius Pigai's reputation as a former member of the Indonesian National Human Rights Commission for the 2012-2017 period and a world-recognized human rights fighter, according to Teguh, is very important in Indonesia's efforts to maintain a conducive situation in Papua while spurring development progress in the region.

"I hope that the new government can convince those who doubt Indonesia's commitment to Papua. President Prabowo needs to play a more significant role for Bung Natalius and Mas Sugiono in the new government," he added.

A number of Pacific countries, which are members of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) organization, often take advantage of the Papua issue in international forums.

The organization, which was founded in 1998 in Vanuatu, includes members such as Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and the Kamak National Liberation Front in New Caledonia. Indonesia has been the MSG Observer since 2011 and the Associate Member since 2015.

During the MSG meeting in Vanuatu in August last year, Indonesia walked out after the committee invited Papuan separatist Benny Wenda to speak. Teguh emphasized that the international community, especially the Pacific region, needed to see Papua's problems more clearly.

"The principle of peaceful coexistence produced by the Asia Africa Conference (KAA) in Bandung in the 1950s should strengthen global solidarity, especially in the Southern hemisphere," concluded Teguh, former Deputy Chancellor of Bung Karno University (UBK)