Deadlock looms in Aceh peace talks: Widodo<\/p>\n
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The ongoing peace talks between the Indonesian government and the
\nFree Aceh Movement (GAM) in Finland may end in deadlock with
\nJakarta refusing the rebels' demand for the establishment of
\nlocal political parties and self government.<\/p>\n
Chief security minister Widodo Adi Sutjipto said on Wednesday
\nthat the government may have to declare Aceh in status quo and
\nimmediately hold an \"internal consolidation\" to withdraw from the
\nongoing fifth round of negotiations, should GAM insist on
\npressing the demands.<\/p>\n
\"The government's stance is quite clear. The demand for local
\npolitical parties cannot be accommodated. It is already firm that
\nwe cannot accept it because our existing legal system only
\nrecognizes national-scope political parties.<\/p>\n
\"There are negotiable and non-negotiable items, and our
\nframework is clear ... that the results of the talks should not
\ngo against the concept of the unitary state, the 1945
\nConstitution and our existing regulations,\" he said at his
\noffice.<\/p>\n
However, GAM leaders on Wednesday said \"amazingly surprising\"
\nadvances had been made so far in the peace talks.<\/p>\n
As a second day of negotiations got under way on Wednesday,
\ndelegates said they were pleased that they had already managed to
\ncover all the points in a draft peace treaty, saying they were
\nnow prepared to discuss all the suggested changes.<\/p>\n
\"It's amazingly surprising that we managed to discuss all the
\nissues already yesterday (Tuesday),\" GAM spokesman Bakhtiar
\nAbdullah told AFP in Helsinki, Finland. \"Now we can discuss the
\nnew draft today,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Widodo, a retired four-star Navy admiral and former armed
\nforces chief, chairs the government's supervising team monitoring
\nthe peace talks.<\/p>\n
He said the government would continue to guarantee the safety
\nof foreigners in tsunami-ravaged Aceh, where they are currently
\ninvolved in reconstruction work, in the event the current peace
\ntalks collapsed.<\/p>\n
\"I am not pessimistic, but I believe that both parties will
\nmake all efforts to avoid the process from suffering a deadlock,\"
\nWidodo said.<\/p>\n
Facilitated by the Finland-based Crisis Management Initiative
\n(CMI), the Helsinki talks are aimed at seeking ways to end the
\nthree decades of fighting in Aceh, in which at least 15,000
\npeople have been killed since 1976.<\/p>\n
The July talks could be the final round of informal meetings
\nbetween the government and GAM, and a final memorandum of
\nunderstanding (MOU), expected to be the basis of a possible peace
\naccord, could be outlined in August.<\/p>\n
The MOU contains several crucial points, including security
\narrangements, economic development, amnesties and integration
\nprocesses for former rebels and Acehnese political
\nrepresentation.<\/p>\n
A dispute over Aceh's political representation continued
\nduring the negotiations, with GAM insisting that the government
\nshould allow Acehnese to establish local political parties as a
\nfundamental basis for the demanded system of self-government.<\/p>\n
Self-rule was a key condition set by the rebels as they
\ndropped their long-held demand for an independent Aceh, instead
\nallowing the resource-rich province at the northern tip of
\nSumatra to remain as an integral part of Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Bakhtiar Abdullah said the Indonesian government must show
\nthat it sincerely wants peace by accepting the demand for self-
\ngovernment in Aceh based on elections contested by local
\npolitical parties. \"If Indonesia wants to be considered a
\ndemocratic country, it must accept internationally recognized
\nstandards of democracy.\"<\/p>\n
The other major hurdle -- the demilitarization of Aceh -- has
\nbeen largely overcome after a tentative agreement was reached to
\nsharply reduce the massive Indonesian contingent there in
\nexchange for disarmament of guerrilla forces.<\/p>\n
The demilitarization process would be overseen by several
\nhundred observers from the European Union and the Association of
\nSoutheast Asian Nations.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian Military (TNI) has officially assigned Maj.
\nGen. Bambang Darmono, who was the Aceh military operations
\ncommander when Jakarta launched an offensive operation to crush
\nGAM members in 2003, to join the ongoing talks with the task of
\nmonitoring all security arrangements discussed in the dialog.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/deadlock-looms-in-aceh-peace-talks-widodo-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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