Abdurrahman told to visit Aceh

JAKARTA (JP): House Speaker Akbar Tandjung called on President Abdurrahman Wahid on Tuesday to cut short his foreign tour and travel to Aceh, where one million people marched on Monday to demand a self-determination vote.

A similar request also came from a member of Abdurrahman's own Cabinet. State Minister of Human Rights Affairs Hasballah M. Saad said the President should travel to Aceh to hold a dialog with the people there.

Abdurrahman, popularly known as Gus Dur, has been on a whirlwind five-day, eight-city tour of Southeast Asia. He returns on Wednesday but will fly to the United States on Friday.

Many politicians have criticized the President for embarking on a foreign tour when he should have traveled to Aceh.

"It is better for the President to shorten his foreign visit and fly directly to Aceh to calm the tension there," Akbar told reporters.

Banda Aceh, capital of the province of Aceh, returned to normal on Tuesday after it was paralyzed by Monday's march. Traditional markets, shops and food stalls reopened and government offices resumed activities. Public transport was available and Blang Bintang airport was operating again.

The march, the biggest ever in the province, sent the clearest and strongest demand yet to Jakarta for a self-determination vote in the province, which has been racked by violence, mostly perpetrated by the military in its efforts to suppress the armed separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

Akbar said the House planned to send a delegation to Aceh to listen to the aspirations of the people.

"Details of the delegation and its mission will be discussed during a meeting on Thursday," he said.

Akbar declined to comment on President Abdurrahman's statement that he supported Aceh's demand for a referendum.

The speaker pointed out that any move to hold a referendum anywhere in Indonesia must have the prior approval of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR).

"We will probably invite the President to give us an explanation about his statement," he said.

President B.J. Habibie made a constitutional blunder when he went over the MPR's head and announced his offer of a referendum for East Timor last January.

Separately Hasballah, who was an Acehnese human right activist prior to his Cabinet appointment last month, believed that negotiations between the President and Acehnese leaders could ease tension in the province.

"I hope the President will go to Aceh while the situation is still conducive for dialog," he said.

The government, he said, must end the bloodshed and human rights violations in the province. "The Acehnese people will welcome any invitation from the President for peaceful discussions."

Minister of Home Affairs Surjadi Soedirdja also underlined discussions as the best way to approach the Aceh problem.

"Aceh is part of the Republic, and the Acehnese are our brothers and sisters. Their aspirations should be absorbed through dialogs, either formal or informal", he said.

He believed that negotiations would bring about a peaceful and comprehensive solution, acceptable to every one.

The Indonesian Military last week announced that it was withdrawing all its combat troops from Aceh and admitted that the "security approach" had failed to resolve the problems there.

Minister of Law and Legislation Yusril Ihza Mahendra said the government could not prevent the Acehnese people from demanding a self-determination referendum.

He recalled that President Abdurrahman himself announced last week that he would personally handle the Aceh problem. "We have to wait until the President returns before responding to Acehnese demands," he said after receiving Australian Ambassador John McCarthy at his office.

However, the Free Aceh Movement dismissed suggestions that Abdurrahman, or any other people from Jakarta, would be able to persuade the Acehnese to back down on their referendum demand.

"The Acehnese people no longer have any confidence in the government and its statements because they are all liars," GAM Commander Abdullah Syafiie said in a conference with local and foreign journalists in a secret location in Aceh on Tuesday.

As far as GAM was concerned, there were only two options for Aceh, "Death or independence", he said.

The people of Aceh have had enough promises from people in Jakarta to solve the problems in the province, Abdullah said.

"It's now the time for central government to give what the people in Aceh are demanding," he said.

Abdullah said the rally in Banda Aceh was the only thing the Acehnese people could do to free themselves from Indonesia's tyrannical rule.

The march sent the message to Jakarta that Acehnese were determined in their demand for a referendum. They expected the government in Jakarta to respond positively, he said.

"The national leadership must open their eyes to the people's suffering," he said.

Tengku Muhammad Amin, a Muslim leader in the Aceh town of Sigli, warned of dire consequences if the government failed to act on the referendum call. "The rally was evidence that people are losing their patience. Who knows what they will do next?" he said.

Meanwhile in Jakarta Adnan Buyung Nasution, a noted lawyer and a constitutional law expert, called for the establishment of a federal system of government in Indonesia.

"To avoid national disintegration, the only logical and realistic solution is to move towards federalism," he said. (02/51/rms)