Military to safeguard elections in troubled Aceh<\/p>\n
Tiarma Siboro and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post,
\nBanda Aceh\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Aceh military has set up security arrangements to enable
\nlocal residents in areas known as rebel strongholds to exercise
\ntheir right to vote on April 5.<\/p>\n
Commander of the North Aceh Military overseeing also
\nLhokseumawe and Bireuen, Lt. Col. Entang Sulaiman, said on
\nWednesday the military had classified the polling stations into
\nthree categories: safe, danger level 1 and danger level 2. The
\nstatus determines the number of soldiers deployed to guard the
\npolling stations.<\/p>\n
In a safe area, police and civilian guards will play the main
\nrole in providing security around a polling station, with up to
\nfive soldiers placed at a radius of up to one kilometer from a
\npolling station.<\/p>\n
There will be between five and seven soldiers helping the
\npolice at each polling station located in areas classified as
\ndanger level 1, while in the danger level 2 areas the number of
\nsoldiers will be increased to 15 for each polling station.<\/p>\n
\"The soldiers will be ready on site on April 1 (Thursday) or
\nfour days before D-day,\" Entang said.<\/p>\n
There will be around 3,500 soldiers involved in safeguarding
\nthe election in North Aceh and Bireuen alone, while all over the
\nprovince the martial law administrator will deploy 21,000 troops.<\/p>\n
Head of the North Aceh General Elections Commission (KPUD)
\nNazaruddin Ibrahim said local residents would cast their vote at
\n2,293 polling stations across the regency, with 988 of them
\nlocated in areas considered as safe, 816 situated in the danger
\nlevel 1 and 744 in the danger level 2 areas.<\/p>\n
North Aceh, along with East Aceh, is known as a stronghold of
\nFree Aceh Movement (GAM) separatist rebels.<\/p>\n
The military launched a major offensive against the rebels in
\nMay last year. The current military operation is aimed at
\nenabling the Aceh people to exercise their right to vote in the
\nlegislative election on April 5 and the presidential election on
\nJuly 5.<\/p>\n
The government had planned to change the martial law status to
\na civil emergency status when the mandate for the military
\noperation expires on May 19 of this year.<\/p>\n
Entang said, however, the security arrangement would be
\ndifferent for villages considered GAM bases. He declined to
\nelaborate on the arrangements.<\/p>\n
Interim coordinating minister for political and security
\naffairs Hari Sabarno said in Jakarta on Wednesday the election
\nwould definitely be scrapped in 25 of the 52 villages known as
\nGAM strongholds across North Aceh and East Aceh.<\/p>\n
\"Of the 52 villages which fall under GAM control, we could
\nstill hold the election in 27 of them but we need to take extra
\nmeasures to make it possible,\" Hari said at the State Palace.<\/p>\n
He said it would be impossible to hold the election in the 25
\nvillages because of GAM's presence.<\/p>\n
\"GAM has a strong presence in the villages and government
\ntroops cannot enter those areas,\" the minister said.<\/p>\n
He played down the consequence of the decision with regards
\nthe legitimacy of the legislative election in the province.
\n\"There are still hundreds of villages where people can exercise
\ntheir right to vote,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Currently, there are no foreign monitors registered to observe
\nthe election in the conflict-prone areas in North Aceh.<\/p>\n
\"They must secure a permit from the martial law
\nadministration, the Aceh Police and the local district police
\nbeforehand. They cannot go beyond municipalities,\" Entang said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/military-to-safeguard-elections-in-troubled-aceh-1447893297",
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