Papua New Guinea National Capital District (NCD) Governor Powes Parkop has assured the Indonesian government that the pro-West Papuan campaigners are ready and open for dialogue.
Parkop, a campaigner for West Papua independence, said Indonesian President Joko Widodo was in Port Moresby Wednesday for a state visit.
“I want to invite him (Widodo) to think about the future, not to be defined by the past, we cannot change the past,” he said in a statement.
“The past has a lot of pains and issues, the past history that we cannot and are not proud of.
“The future we can absolutely re-define and make it better.
“As a strong campaigner, I am ready and willing to engage in dialogue, I have spoken to different organisations of the West Papua people, especially United Liberation Movement for West Papua president Benny Wenda and the Provisional Government.
“They are also ready for open, cordial dialogue.
“We can reshape our future and history of the region together so that it becomes better than the past, this is our call to President Widodo,” he said.
Parkop said they (West Papua supporters) wanted full membership for both West Papua and the Republic of Indonesia in the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG).
“That is the platform through which we can engage in this type of dialogue and discussions that will reshape our future and the history of our people so that we build a better future,” he said.
“In this way, we can live a greater legacy that we all can be proud of.”
Parkop in welcoming Widodo invited him to also take some time to understand Papua New Guineans, understand our culture and know our history and heritage.
“We want to move forward in addressing this decade-long issue that have marred the relationship between our peoples, different cultures, traditions and history to forge a better future that can benefit both our nations,” Parkop said.
SOURCE: THE NATIONAL/PACNEWS
