It's All Over, Including

The Shouting

At the UN General Assembly in November, 30 countries, 24 of them African, strongly op posed the conduct of the recent “act of free choice” in West Irian. They abstained from vot ing in a resolution recognising the act. But 80 other countries, including Australia and Great Britain, voted in favour, and thus the lid has finally been put on the agony of West Irian.

The African countries were apparently worried that Portugal and Rhodesia could use the “act of free choice” as a precedent for consulta tion with tribal chiefs by which they might perpetuate white rule. But for Indonesia’s strong anti-colonial record, the African group might have voted against the resolution, instead of merely abstaining.

Mr. Richard Akwei, of Ghana, proposed an amendment by which a further act of free choice would be held in 1975, but this was defeated

by 60 votes to 15, with 39 abstent ations. He compared disparingly the act of free choice, where delegates said to represent the population voted unanimously for continued Djakarta rule, with the system in Papua-New Guinea.

The same problems were en countered there, he said, but the prin ciple of “one man, one vote” had been a success, and “a somewhat en lightened policy is being built which is leading the people to self-rule.”

Earlier the secretary-general, U Thant, reported that “enlarged repre sentative councils,” in the presence of UN representative, Fernando Ortiz-Sanz, had made a “unanimous concensus in favour” of Indonesian rule.

Mr. Ortiz-Sanz, in his report, ex pressed a reservation, however, con

ceming implementation of the article of the agreement relating to the rights of the inhabitants, including “those of free speech and freedom of move ment and assembly.”

“In spite of my constant efforts”, Mr Ortiz-Sanz reported, “this im portant provision was not fully im plemented, and the Administration exercised at all times a tight political control over the population.”

The Indonesian Government, in its report to the UN, said that in West Irian there existed one of the most primitive and underdeveloped com munities in the world.

“To measure the method and con duct of the act of free choice in such a community against purely Western democratic methods and procedures would indeed be erroneous and un realistic”, the Indonesian report added.