Chief Justice Anwar Usman reading out the decree on the formal judicial review petition of the establishment of the Provinces of South Papua, Central Papua, and Papua Highlands, Monday (10/31/2022). Photo by MKRI/Ifa.

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Monday, October 31, 2022 | 14:51 WIB

JAKARTA (MKRI)—The Constitutional Court (MK) granted the withdrawal of a formal judicial review petition of Law No. 14 of 2022 on the Establishment of South Papua, Law No. 15 of 2022 on the Establishment of Central Papua, and Law No. 16 of 2022 on the Establishment of Papua Highlands. “[The Court] grants the withdrawal of the Petitioner’s petition,” said Chief Justice Anwar Usman reading out the Decree No. 92/PUU-XX/2022 on Monday afternoon, October 31, 2022.

A preliminary hearing had taken place on Wednesday, September 28, but neither the Petitioner nor his legal counsel was present, citing that they would like to withdraw the petition. The withdrawal request was received via email on September 28 at 12:36 WIB.

He added that a justice deliberation meeting (RPH) had been held on October 11 on the withdrawal request, and the justices decided that the request was legally reasonable and that the Petitioners will not be able to re-file the a quo petition.

Also read: Public Participation Minimal, Laws on Three New Papua Provinces Challenged

The petition No. 92/PUU-XX/2022 was filed by private employee E. Ramos Patege. He felt the formation of the a quo Laws had not been fair, transparent, and responsible. Not only did it not involve the Petitioner as part of the Papuan Indigenous People (OAP) to provide recommendation, idea, and opinion to the development and advancement of regional government in Papua Province including in the proliferation of regions in Papua, it also did not follow the procedure established in Law No. 12 of 2011 as amended by Law No. 13 of 2022, making it procedurally or formally defective.

The formation of the a quo Laws, he argued, had violated the principles and special autonomy of Papua Province. Instead, it used a centralized top-down and authoritarian approach in the proliferation of Papua regions, without any inputs from indigenous Papuans. Therefore, the Petitioner requested that the Court declare the three a quo Laws not meeting the lawmaking provisions and unconstitutional.

Writer        : Utami Argawati
Editor        : Lulu Anjarsari P.
PR            : Andhini S. F.
Translator  : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Translation uploaded on 10/31/2022 20:47 WIB

Disclaimer: The original version of the news is in Indonesian. In case of any differences between the English and the Indonesian versions, the Indonesian version will prevail.

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