On Saturday, January 10th, 2015 has been an information meeting about the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), the new umbrella organization formed in December 2014 in Port Vila, Vanuatu.

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After an introduction by Leonie Tanggahma, member ULMWP, Benny Wenda, spokesman ULMWP, gave a detailed explanation of the meeting in Vanatua and the Saralana Declaration signed there. Under the ULMWP three major organizations are united: the Federal Republic of West Papua (NRFPB); the National Coalition for the Liberation of West Papua (WPNCL) and the National Parliament of West Papua (PNWP).

Under this heading in the name of West Papua a new application for membership will be submitted to the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG). Last year the request was rejected for various reasons, including "unrepresentative" of the group who had made the request.

Truly a great step forward because a variety of organizations and groups are already working for a very long time for an independent West Papua. But all those parties have different representatives and slightly different views on what should be done. In fact, we have to deal with several "presidents", "would-be presidents" to "cabinets of ministers" to it. The merits of the case, they all want the same, but due to the different ego trippers, Indonesia could very easy, "divide and rule". All those little "kingdoms" still were not be able to make a fist. Who takes all those small groups seriously?

Due to lack of unity and vision for the intended audience (United Nations, European Union, politicians, supporters, etc.etc.)  it has been  of course entirely unclear exactly which the real party was to be seen. And that of course was true ditto for the Melanasian Spearhead Group.

Do you want to achieve something you should know "with whom you can do business" and as a politician you have to know by whom you can be fed with the information you need to put yourself somewhere without being swept away by the opposition that used a just slightly different source. Of course as a politician you would not fall in such a hornet's nest because you have to consider your own credibility (and career!).

After a  clarification by Benny Wenda, Leonie Tanggahma gave a presentation on the Unification process, supported by slides.

It was a little unfortunate that the microphone was not working well.  Some details of the presentation were lost.

Bit of a shame, I also found that this important step again gave rise to opposition from the "kingdoms" and even more unfortunate, I found that the Dutch Papuan community did not massively turn up to participate in this meeting. The different blood groups within the community remain play tricks on us. And as long as they exist, we will never be able to make a real fist.

The hopes are now pinned on a vigorous ULMWP. If this organization is able to manifest itself, there is a strong chance that the ranks close and there arises a strong organization with broad support. That would be an enormous relief for the supporters and for the intended audience, it would lead to the most effective results for the Papuans, and it can really bring to Indonesia a "pain in the ass,". And the latter can not be painful enough in my opinion.

 

 

The Saralana statement is available in Malay, in French, in English and in Dutch.

They are also downloadable as PDF:

Dutch

Malay

French

English

The agenda of the information meeting as a pdf.

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