It is not yet clear whether the election of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as president of Indonesia is a positive development for West Papua and whether he will bring peace and stability to the restive territory any closer.
The signals are ambiguous and we simply do not know what policies the new president will pursue when in office. Susilo was the preferred candidate of many Papuans. He was regarded as the more competent and wiser leader who in the past has supported dialogue as a means of resolving the West Papua conflict and made encouraging statements about reforming the military.