Ganjar-Mahfud Promises To Accelerate The Bill On Indigenous Peoples, Prepare The Natural Resources Rights Program

Presidential Candidate Ganjar Pranowo together with vice presidential candidate Mahfud MD/ANTARA/Fianda Sjofjan Rassat)

JAKARTA - The Ganjar-Mahfud National Winning Team (TPN) explained the strategy of the presidential-cawapres candidate pair number 3 Ganjar Pranowo-MahfudMD to protect the indigenous community in Indonesia.

"The draft Law on Indigenous Peoples is clearly in the vision and mission of Ganjar-Mahfud which is covered by the mission of accelerating agrarian reforms and fair, democratic, and sustainable spatial planning in order to achieve social justice," said Deputy for Inclusion TPN Ganjar-Mahfud, Sandra Moniaga, in a written statement reported by ANTARA, Friday, January 19.

He explained that the Bill on Indigenous Peoples was proposed by civil society since 2003. The current draft of the Indigenous Peoples Bill has been harmonized with the Legislation Body of the DPR and submitted to the leadership of the DPR since 2020.

However, the fate of the bill is not clear in the hands of the leadership of the DPR. "The ratification of the bill is said to be hampered by the interests of investors," he said.

In addition to accelerating the Indigenous Community Bill, Sandra said that the Ganjar-Mahfud couple had also prepared various programs to protect indigenous peoples.

These programs are designed to be oriented towards the recognition of indigenous peoples for the rights of customary, forest, land and other resources as a unitary ecosystem that prospers indigenous peoples.

"Legal certainty regarding the customary rights of indigenous law communities through the administration of customary rights, both public and private aspects (communal rights). In addition, the acceleration and expansion of the recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples to customary forests and customary land as part of their customary territory," he explained.

He explained that each candidate pair had a track record in fulfilling the rights of indigenous peoples to the results of development.

However, Sandra claims that only the Ganjar-Mahfud pair are very sharp in paying attention to indigenous peoples.

Based on data from the Alliance of Indigenous Peoples of the Archipelago (AMAN), as of August 9, 2023, there were 4.57 million indigenous peoples in Indonesia. The majority of indigenous peoples live in various regions in Kalimantan and Sumatra.

Although the numbers are quite large, indigenous peoples are often marginalized. Their rights to land are often seized by the government and the private sector in the name of development. The majority of indigenous people live in the interior and lack of attention from the government.

During a visit to the capital city of the archipelago (IKN), Ganjar had emphasized that he and MahfudMD would embrace the existence of IKN indigenous peoples and other regions if they won the 2024 presidential election.

"We will hold it, we will not sideline them. This means that we will still embrace them, we will provide education on why their children will be able to adapt to other general people," said Ganjar.