Mega needs tender approach in Aceh: Acehnese figures<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Acehnese legislators and community leaders
\nappealed on Thursday for President Megawati Soekarnoputri to take
\nconcrete reconciliatory measures to resolve the prolonged Aceh
\nproblem during her visit to the strife-torn province next week.<\/p>\n
Karimun Usman, a legislator of the Indonesian Democratic Party
\nof Struggle, said the President should hold a \"heart to heart\"
\ndialog with all elements of the Acehnese community, including the
\nseparatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM), to listen to what they
\nexpected from the government to end the prolonged conflict.<\/p>\n
\"Both Acehnese officials and the President's aides should not
\nengineer the meeting, but allow the Acehnese people to raise all
\nof their problems to the surface so that the President knows what
\nshe has to do for Aceh,\" he told The Jakarta Post here on
\nThursday.<\/p>\n
President Megawati was initially scheduled to leave for Aceh
\non Sept. 2, but the trip was then postponed until later next
\nweek. It is not yet clear what the President's itinerary in Aceh
\ninvolves or how much time she will spend there.<\/p>\n
Officials have said that during her visit the President will
\nhold a dialogue with the Acehnese people and promote the newly
\nsigned Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam autonomy law, which gives the
\nAcehnese more freedom in managing their own affairs.<\/p>\n
Megawati said on Tuesday that the Acehnese should take full
\nadvantage of the special autonomy law, but at the same time she
\nwarned that separatist elements would be promptly crushed.<\/p>\n
Farhan Hamid, a United Development Party (PPP) legislator,
\nurged Megawati to end the military approach employed to deal with
\nthe Acehnese.<\/p>\n
\"Megawati must be able to end the military's cruelty and the
\npolice's arrogance in Aceh, which have sowed the seeds of hatred
\namong the Acehnese toward the central government,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said the President's planned visit would be futile and
\nleave the Acehnese people indifferent, just as her predecessors
\nhad done, unless she took sincere humanitarian actions to win the
\nhearts of the Acehnese people, including the rebels.<\/p>\n
Nurlip, an Acehnese Golkar Party legislator, agreed and said
\nthat the government, including the military and police, should
\nact in line with anything the President promised during her
\nvisit.<\/p>\n
\"The Aceh problem will be able to be resolved quickly if the
\ngovernment, including security authorities and local
\nadministrations, have the political will to develop the
\nprovince,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Bachtiar Aly, an Acehnese figure in Jakarta, called
\non the President to express her apology before the Acehnese
\nduring her visit and follow it up with concrete steps to create a
\nreconciliatory relationship with them.<\/p>\n
\"Besides her recent apology, if Megawati makes another apology
\ndirectly before the Acehnese in Aceh, it will certainly be valued
\nsignificantly by the Acehnese,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The apology, however, should be followed up by a comprehensive
\npolicy, such as compensating relatives of victims of human rights
\nviolations, building an Islamic center, providing free-of-charge
\neducation services and creating a special post office box to
\nchannel local people's aspirations and complaints.<\/p>\n
Bachtiar added that the visit would serve as a good chance for
\nthe President to deliver the promise made by her father,
\nIndonesia's first president Sukarno, to make Aceh a special
\nprovince under Islamic law.<\/p>\n
\"Megawati will be able to win the hearts of the Acehnese if
\nshe positions herself as a lovely sister, treats the Acehnese as
\na big family and listens to their true problems,\" he said. (rms)<\/p>",
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