There is a lot of controversy, not on the leadership but on the management of the Papua Presidium Council (PDP). Most of the people in West Papua are standing behind the PDP. They are ready to sacrifice what they have, including their lives for the sake of the independence of West Papua. However, there also people here who are suspicious of what is actually done by the PDP. The people here really want to achieve their independence by any means, and the PDP is openly declaring its mission to do so. But why do others suspect the PDP?

I am going to answer this question in two perspectives: the perspective of the Koteka People and the management perspective in relation to the management of the PDP. In this first article, let us look at some reasons why koteka people are suspicious on teh PDP's work. In the koteka culture, when you are fighting with your enemy, you will never have a word with your enemy because this is about fighting against. This is the way koteka people work. They do not tolerate the work of the enemy whatsoever. They do not negotiate, they do not have dialogues, they do not want to talk about the differences because the differences will never be resolved in a fight. Perhaps this is too difficult to apply now, because diplomacy is  the frontline of every politics in the world today. More talk is necessary in promoting understanding and respect among the fighting parties. However, this depends of the Indonesian side, whether they want to put the issue on the table or they still want to use arms and military intimidation to resolve the problem in West Papua.

The second reason for the koteka people's suspicion is how the PDP members behave to the Indonesian government. Besides continuous dialogues and negotiations with the Indonesians, the PDP also safely guarded and protected by the Indonesian military guard when they come to Jakarta or Java island. In many occasions, the members were welcomed by the military personnel in Jakarta and driven away under their guard. Then people ask, "These people are fighting for the independence of West Papua, but how come, they are guarded by the military intelligence?" Why can't they ask the Papuans who live in Jakarta to guard them? In addition to this, they seem feel saver to live in Java compared to staying in West Papua. In West Papua, they have Satgas (members of Papuan Task Force) surrounding their homes. And they do not need any of the Satgas members to guard in Java. Why do they feel safer in Java than in West Papua? Maybe they are working for the Indonesians?

The third reason is that the PDP is getting much resources from the Indonesian government. They have got cars from the Indonesian officials. They are paid to come to Jakarta. Some of them are accompanying the Indonesian officials on tour to foreign countries. Even worse, they are getting paid for holding meetings and President Wahid donated 1 Million Rupiahs for the Papua National Congress II, 2000 recently. When you find a koteka person doing this, koteka people will straight away say, "This person is not working for us!" In koteka culture, when you are working against some one, either in a war or in politics, you are not allowed to eat, use or consume whatever your enemy gives you by any reason whatsoever. At the point you receive anything from your enemies, you must come to your people and say, "I am not suitable for this job, because I have had something from our enemy. Others must replace me, I am wrong in leading you guys!" From this point, the people replace with new members. Even stricter from this, if the koteka people were leading this struggle, they will not eat any Indonesian-cooked food nor drink their water. They will not ask any money from them. They will go sleep with any Indonesian woman, and so forth. They will keep themselves clean from any political virus from the enemies. This exactly the same as the teaching in the Bible, i.e., when you are fighting against Satan, you cannot tolerate its offer whatsoever.

Fourthly, the koteka people believe that their leaders must to change their words. For example, if they had instructed the people in West Papua to hoist their Morning Star Flag, the same PDP will never ask the people again to lower down the same flag, not within a year or some twenty years. There is some consideration if the members of PDP are different people, but PDP as an organisation this cannot happen among the koteka people. Modern politics may teach on the contrary, i.e., politics changes in seconds, you must follow the flow of the political currents. This is one of the main reasons why people in West Papua do not trust Indonesian anymore. The Indonesian parties campaign to win general elections with so many good promises. Only after some weeks of winning the election, after Papuans voting for a party, what they get are rape, intimidation, torture, imprisonment without trial, disappearance, exploitation of their resources, violations of their rights and murder. Koteka people cannot accept these kinds of words by the same people. If the PDP is asking to lower down the Morning Star now, they will confront the PDP, not the Indonesians anymore. They will call the PDP to be accountable for their words. 

People in West Papua, particularly in the highlands are experts in being lied. They know very well how people lied at them. They have learned from the Dutch, from the Western Missionaries, from the Tourists, from those who are coming here as researchers, from multinational companies, and now from the PDP. Their life is full of lies. They sleep, they eat, they work, they breathe all the time with full of lies. Life in lies is not a humane life. It is the life in the hell. People here want clear, consistent, and persistent managers of the PDP. If not, they are ready to die anyway. What they want is not politics, they want independence: Free from any kind of violations in their land.