Author: Grace Septiana *
The 2019 presidential election seems to present as a nostalgia for the people of Indonesia. For the second time the community was faced with the same choice as the 2014 Presidential Election, between President Joko Widodo and Prabowo Subianto. Fortunately, in this Presidential election there was something new from Prabowo’s side. Together with Sandiaga Uno, his Vice President, Prabowo Subianto made a new commitment for the 2019 Election. One of them was visiting Papua. It can be said that this commitment was a new breakthrough from Prabowo, considering that in 2014, the media never covered Prabowo campaigning in Papua.
To prevent a severe defeat like in Tanah Papua in 2014, Prabowo felt the need to take this step. Unfortunately, Prabowo’s new breakthrough was not effective enough to win the hearts of the Papuan people. This was motivated by the dark history of Prabowo regarding human rights violations such as the disappearance of a number of activists in Indonesia. Papuans who have felt repressiveness in the Land of Papua will certainly be reluctant to choose leaders who they fear. Not surprisingly, in 2014, Papua Land simultaneously campaigned for Jokowi as a friendly, courteous and far-reaching leader of cases of human rights violations.
In addition to the kidnapping of activists, Operasi Mapenduma was the main reason for the Papuan people not to vote for Prabowo Subianto. The Mapenduma operation is a release operation for 12 Lorentz Team researchers who are collecting data at Mapenduma. Previously, the 12 researchers were taken hostage by the OPM under the control of Daniel Yudas Kogoya to attract international attention in liberating Papua. In its history, the Mapenduma operation was a success for Prabowo Subianto as the Kopassus Danjen who was then directly involved in leading the operation.
Various domestic and international praise flooded Prabowo Subianto as a national hero. Unfortunately, this view is not shared by the Papuan people. Papuans see Prabowo as a military leader who wants to commit genocide against all Papuans. According to one of the adat councils in Papua, Prabowo in carrying out the Mapenduma operation actually executed civilians who were not involved in the abduction case. In the Mapenduma operation, 12 churches were burnt, 12 women were raped and thousands of civilians had to die.
If you look at the chronology, it is only natural that Prabowo was reluctant to campaign in Papua in the 2014 Presidential Election. The tension between Prabowo and the Papuan people was a barrier for the Prabowo team to attract Papuans. Similarly, in the 2019 Presidential Election, Prabowo was in fact still considered a potential figure in violating human rights by the community. In the eyes of Papua, Prabowo is only a bloodied leader of the Papuan people who are not fit to be elected.
*) FISIP students at the Dharma Agung University