The president visited other provinces, perhaps, only twice or thrice, but he has visited Papua 14 timesJakarta (ANTARA) - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has channeled his utmost focus on the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua, Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Mahfud MD stated.
"Papua is the region on which the president has emphasised his focus. The president visited other provinces, perhaps, only twice or thrice, but he has visited Papua 14 times," Mahfud noted in his press statement as observed from the Presidential Secretariat YouTube channel on Monday.
The coordinating minister earlier accompanied Jokowi to receive the visit of leaders of the Papua People's Assembly and West Papua People's Assembly at the Merdeka Palace here.
Mahfud remarked that the meeting between the president and the people's assemblies leaders was conducted smoothly, as no new decisions had to be made during the meeting.
During the meeting, Jokowi reiterated his commitment to follow up on the assembly leaders' visit by visiting respective provincial people's assembly offices while visiting the Papua region, he remarked.
"When the president visits Papua later, he will visit the Papua People's Assembly and West Papua People's Assembly offices," Mahfud affirmed.
The coordinating minister noted that the meeting was organised to heed to the people's assemblies leaders' suggestions and aspirations regarding Law No. 21 of 2001 on Special Autonomy Status for Papua Province.
The House of Representatives' plenary session passed the amendment to the Special Autonomy Law on July 17, 2021, to revise seven crucial points in some 20 articles in the law, he noted.
Despite the law having been passed and having a legal force, a judicial review on the revised law is currently ongoing in the Constitutional Court, he added.
"We respect the ongoing legal process, and we will continue to observe the progress, as the legal process would conclude with the Constitutional Court's verdict," Mahfud stated.
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Translator: Mentari Dwi G, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Sri Haryati
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