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NEWS & LETTERS, February - March 2007Acheh holds historic electionAfter 30 years of revolt against the central government, after decades of military repression against both the armed independence movement and recent mass civil society movements, after suffering large-scale death and destruction in the tsunami two years ago, and following the signing of an unprecedented peace agreement in August 2005--Acheh, Indonesia, chose its own regional government for the first time in December 2006. The peace agreement mandated the election, in which candidates were allowed to run as independents instead of members of national parties, for the first time anywhere in Indonesia. In a clear rejection of the Jakarta government, the winners by a landslide came from the former independence movements. The new provincial governor is Irwandi Yusuf from the formerly armed Free Aceh Movement (GAM), and the deputy governor is his running mate Muhammad Nazar, a former student leader and head of SIRA, a leading organization in the massive civil movement that had campaigned for a referendum to determine the future of Acheh. Both men spent much time in jail, and both escaped being killed by the military or the tsunami only by chance. One Achenese termed this the fairest election ever conducted in Indonesia due to international monitors and massive local mobilization. LINA, a women’s organization formed since the peace that now has 30,000 members, campaigned throughout the villages and turned out a women’s vote 25% higher than ever before. Earlier, when the election process was stalled by Jakarta’s failure to pass the necessary legislation, the women’s group organized a rally of 100,000 people. LINA is also engaged in women’s health, education and economic projects. “It’s good to see our side getting a chance,” one woman told N&L. “Now the key is whether GAM can deliver, whether it can make the fishermen and women happy.” The right to run independent candidates arises out of GAM’s consultations with representatives of SIRA and other groups during the peace negotiations. GAM won greater civil rights for the Achenese, along with limited political autonomy and a bigger share of the revenues from its natural resources, in exchange for giving up the fight for independence. The peace accord also provides for the future establishment of local political parties, which will allow GAM to transform into a political party able to fight for anything short of independence at the ballot box. But before local parties can be established, the House of Representatives in Jakarta must finish drafting and then pass more legislation, and it has been dragging its feet. Jakarta undoubtedly fears that other regions of Indonesia, several with independence movements, will demand the same right. --Anne Jaclard |
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