Peaceful, prosperous Aceh remains just a dream<\/p>\n
Imanuddin Razak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Indonesian government officials and Free Aceh Movement (GAM)
\nrepresentatives have returned to their respective homes after the
\nfourth round of peace talks in Helsinki, Finland.<\/p>\n
Yet, the six-day meeting, which concluded on May 31, still
\nwere unable to produce satisfactory results as they seem to have
\na lot of unfinished business, requiring a fifth meeting before
\nthey can reach a final agreement.<\/p>\n
The apparent tough times during the meeting, which was
\nmediated by former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari, were also
\nmarred by armed clashes between Indonesian troops and GAM
\nfighters in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam's North Aceh district, a GAM
\nstronghold, on the second day of the bilateral talks on May 27.<\/p>\n
The clashes were a setback to the government's decision a week
\nearlier to lift a one-year-old state of civil emergency in the
\ntroubled province, a move earlier believed by many as a positive
\nsign for a settlement of the complex problems in Aceh.<\/p>\n
The fourth round of talks were later proven unsuccessful as
\nGAM and the Indonesian Military (TNI) failed to reach an
\nagreement on a cease-fire, which has been demanded by the
\nseparatists.<\/p>\n
The reasons given by the TNI in rejecting GAM's demand, were
\nbased on the military's assessment that the movement's previous
\nmaneuver, which according to the TNI had benefited too much from
\na cease-fire in 2003, and used the time to consolidate its
\nmembers and conducted armed activities.<\/p>\n
The TNI, through Chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto, has
\nmaintained a hard line approach to the Aceh insurgency, saying
\nthat the military would continue to try to quell the rebel group
\nuntil they fully surrendered their arms.<\/p>\n
By observing Jakarta's rigid position, we may conclude that
\nthe fifth round of talks, if any, will end up in a failure as
\nnone of the two conflicting camps are likely willing to restrain
\nthemselves and pursue a peaceful solution as earlier regulated by
\nthe People's Consultative Assembly (MPR).<\/p>\n
A 1999 decree of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR)
\nmandates that the government must seek a peaceful settlement in
\nAceh.<\/p>\n
The question will then be whether, in such a non-productive
\nenvironment, it is still necessary to proceed with dialogs in the
\nfuture because both camps are just going to maintain their same
\npositions, and there will never be a peaceful settlement to the
\nprolonged problems.<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, settlement by way of military might should not be
\nthe government's only method as wise men say that there will
\nalways be solutions to problems. The difference will only be in
\nthe time span needed to settle different problems.<\/p>\n
Perhaps we can learn from and implement a popular Chinese
\nproverb, which is applicable when one deals with a prolonged
\nproblem or dispute: \"A long road will reveal a horse's
\nendurance.\"<\/p>\n
A liberal interpretation of the proverb may suggest that it
\nmay take a very long time to settle the Aceh problems and
\nsubsequently bring peace and prosperity to the people.<\/p>\n
However, such prolonged efforts to bring an end to the
\nproblems must not end up in failure as was the case the country's
\nformer East Timor province.<\/p>\n
The independence of East Timor in 1999 should be the only and
\nthe last case of an unsuccessful approach to complex problems of
\na province, including separatism.<\/p>\n
We may still remember that intense diplomatic approaches by
\nJakarta failed to bring a permanent settlement over the East
\nTimor problems in the absence of peace and security on the ground
\nin East Timor.<\/p>\n
And Indonesian people will find it difficult to see Aceh
\nseparated from Indonesia only because there is no coordinated or
\nintegrated settlement to the Aceh problems.<\/p>\n
It will hurt the heart of the Indonesian people to see their
\nAcehnese brothers and sisters wave and say goodbye and establish
\na separate state like the East Timorese did in 1999. Aceh has
\nbeen historically and should always be a part of Indonesia.<\/p>\n
The responsibility lies now with the Indonesian policymakers
\nand policy executors, as well as GAM itself. They just should
\nbear in mind that they will lose a lot if Aceh becomes
\nindependent and then later discover that third parties will
\nbenefit from the province's wealth of oil and gas resources.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/peaceful-prosperous-aceh-remains-just-a-dream-1447893297",
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