Koma.id – Ubedilah Badrun, a political observer and sociologist at the Jakarta State University, believes that Benny’s recent calls are a reflection of divisions within the Free Papua movement.
“I pay close attention to Benny Wenda’s call; it shows that the Free Papua Movement is not as solid as we imagine.” “This is because the Free Papua movement, which uses militias, does not have the effectiveness and solidity of the movement,” said Ubedilah.
The coordination between the wings of the movement, he continued, did not seem to be working effectively. This is evident from Benny’s confession that the actions of the OPM, led by Egianus Kagoya and his friends, were out of control.
Ubedilah also did not dismiss Benny’s call regarding OPM’s special closeness to New Zealand.
“Benny Wenda’s narration shows closeness, or at least there is the possibility of intensive communication between Benny Wenda and New Zealand,” he said.
The observer quoted Benny’s statement that he considered New Zealand a friend and strong supporter of his group.
“We are not hostile [to New Zealand]. “Our [relationship] is very good,” said Benny, as quoted by Radio New Zealand (RNZ).
A number of New Zealand politicians do have a history of supporting West Papuan independence. For example, 11 MPs signed the Westminster Declaration when Benny visited the country in 2017.
The Westminster Declaration was launched in 2016. This statement stated that the right to determine the fate of West Papua was legally recognized through voting.
The politicians are: Catherine Delahunty, Mojo Mathers, Jan Logie, and Steffan Browning from the Green Party; Louisa Wall, Carmel Sepuloni, Adrian Rurawhe, and Aupito S’ua William Suo from the Labor Party.
Then Adrian Rurawhe from the Chester Burrows National Party and Marama Fox from the Maori Party spoke.
“A number of MPs signed the declaration, which, as you know, called for a referendum, independently supervised by the United Nations, for the West Papuan people to discuss and identify their views on self-determination,” Delahunty said, as quoted by the Pacific Media Center.
The pilot from New Zealand came into the spotlight after being held hostage by the OPM since February 7. He was reported missing shortly after the group set fire to a Susi Air plane in Nduga.
A few days later, the Indonesian government confirmed that Mehrtens was being held hostage by the OPM.
Later, Indonesia knew the coordinates of the Susi Air pilot. However, so far the authorities have not taken any action to free them because New Zealand asked for no violence during the operation to free its citizens.
