Marcus Jacob Papilaja (born 22 September 1954) is an Indonesian academic and politician of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle who served as the mayor of Ambon, Maluku for two terms between 2001 and 2011. His mayoral tenure began as the Maluku sectarian conflict wracked Ambon, and he contributed to the reconciliation between Muslim and Christian groups in the city. He was sentenced for corruption in 2014, and was imprisoned for one year.
Ambon was suffering from religious violence as Papilaja was sworn into office, as part of the ongoing sectarian conflict in the province. In order to end the violence, Papilaja met national leaders, foreign NGO representatives and United Nations officials to involve them in the peace process. Within the city government, he pushed for Muslim and Christian employees to mix – due to prior violence, employees had been self-segregating on religious lines.[4] Another policy of Papilaja was to establish ad hoc markets guarded by security officers to replace markets which were destroyed in the violence, which also promoted commercial activity across religious lines.[4] With the help of the Ministry of Home Affairs. Papilaja also approached Jafar Umar Thalib, commander of the Muslim militia Laskar Jihad active in Ambon. By 2002, Papilaja had managed to convince Thalib to accept the Malino II Accord and to disband Laskar Jihad in exchange for guarantees that Christians would not attack Muslim neighborhoods.[5]
Papilaja also introduced fit and proper tests for leadership positions in the city government, reducing accusations of preferences in the selection of officials.[6][4] As the situation in Ambon calmed down, the city government began to take part in the development of regions of Ambon Island outside the city's jurisdiction. It also sponsored sports events to improve interreligious relations and repatriated refugees who had fled the city.[7] Papilaja was reelected for a second term in the direct mayoral election of 2006, winning 52,195 votes (36.1%) in a four-way race.[8]Richard Louhenapessy was elected to replace him in 2011.[9]
Papilaja was arrested by the provincial police in December 2012 under charges of corruption related to a municipal purchase of burial land.[11] He was sentenced to one year in prison on 28 October 2014 by the Ambon District Court.[12] He remained active in Ambonese politics, campaigning for a candidate in the 2017 mayoral election.[13] He also continued to lecture, moving to Matana University[id] in Tangerang in 2016.[14]
