ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights and analyses the early stage implementation of the Papuan Special Autonomy. It shows the conflict between the central government and Papuans in the initial phase of the implementation, when some hardliner elites tried to undermine the outcomes of the elite negotiation. For example, some provisions of the Special Autonomy legislation were not directly implemented, which caused the policy to be ineffective. Unlike some academics who have argued that the cause of the ineffectiveness of decentralisation policy in Indonesia is due to the capture of local elites, this chapter highlights the fact that national elites also undermined Special Autonomy in the interests of their continued political and economic domination of Papua.
