“We have agreed during our last MSG meeting in Port Vila not to pursue independence for West Papua,” he said. The focus was on treating the people of West Papua as part of Melanesia and urging the government of Indonesia to respect them accordingly. However, Opposition leader Wale expressed his disappointment with Sogavare’s statement on the right to self determination at the UN. He said West Papua had been under very oppressive “schematic and systematic Indonesian colonial rule” — far worse than anything New Caledonia had suffered. “We are Melanesians and we should always stand hand in hand with our brothers and sisters in West Papua,” he said.