John Wattilete (born Johannes Gerardus (John) Wattilete[1] in Bemmel, Gelderland, Netherlands, 25 January 1955)[2] is the fifth and incumbent president in exile of the Republic of South Maluku (or South Moluccas, Indonesian: Republik Maluku Selatan, RMS) and has been in office since 2010.
He was involved in the Moluccan youth movement Collectief '91, which found the policies of the Republic of South Maluku in exile (RMS) government too soft.
During that period, there were great tensions in the South Moluccas between the Christians and Muslim populations of the region and as a result of the civil strife, there were many people killed and injured on both sides.
The then RMS president Frans Tutuhatunewa was not so happy with these delegations spearheaded by Wattilete and Matulessy.
If independence is not desired, he opined that his government would accept autonomous status but as part of the Indonesian state for the time being (a situation similar to Aceh), with a bigger say by the Moluccan people in their own Moluccas affairs.