Nicolaas Jouwe has met up with coordinating minister Abourizal Bakrie this morning. The meeting took place in a friendly atmosphere and lasted about 45 minutes. There was genuine respect on both sides of the table.

1. Jakarta, March 20 2009-03-22
Papuan leader of old Nicolaas Jouwe met with minister Aburizal Bakrie
Nicolaas Jouwe has met up with coordinating minister Abourizal Bakrie this morning.
The meeting took place in a friendly atmosphere and lasted about 45 minutes. There was
genuine respect on both sides of the table. Jouwe had not come to surrender his ideal of
independence, as some news reports stated earlier, but stressed the importance of a
constructive dialogue between Papuan leaders and Jakarta.
The meeting began with minister Aburizal Bakrie expressing his gratitude for Nicolaas
Jouwe’s willingness to come to Jakarta. Bapak Bakrie said he was glad to be able to welcome
him in Indonesia. The Papuan leader, who has been living in Holland for the last 47 years replied
that he was pleased and thankfull to be here. In the press conference that was held afterwards,
bapak Jouwe said: “If president Soeharto or other presidents had invited me, I wouldn’t have
come. But this president is a wise man, that’s why I gladly accepted the invitation.”
During the meeting earlier minister Bakrie explained to mister Jouwe the Indonesian
objective to further develop Papua. He pointed out Indonesia’s 5 programs that spearhead the
developmental process: health, education, food, infrastructure and affirmative action. Also the
minister pointed out that no small amount is being spent on the programs. But, he made clear:
more funds are going into Papua than are coming out and some of it is simply disappearing.
Nicolaas Jouwe thanked him for the efforts being undertaken. Jouwe then stressed the
importance of a constructive dialogue in making the Indonesian efforts work effectively and
finding a way together in overcoming Papua’s many problems. Jouwe spoke of two peoples
living next to each other and working closely together. After the meeting a press conference was
held in an overcrowded press-room. Many journalists (mostly Indonesian but also Dutch) had
come because media reports the day before stated that the Papuan leader of old had come to
surrender his ideal of independence.
This, however, was not the case. As a gesture to his host, Nicolaas Jouwe had left his pin
with the Morning Star flag, which he designed in 1961, at the hotel. With that same pin on his
jacket he had arrived at the airport, two days earlier. When presented a pin with the Indonesian
flag, Jouwe was asked to put this one at the now empty spot on his jacket. Nicolaas Jouwe kindly
but firmly refused to do so. “That will not happen this day”, he said. After that the press
conference was called to an abrupt end, leaving many of the Indonesian journalists somewhat
bewildered.