Aceh completes drafting of new bill on govt administration

Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Aceh provincial legislative council has completed drafting a new bill on the governing of Aceh, which would allow former rebels to set up local political parties that could participate in next year's election of top local administration officials.

Azhari Bashar, chairman of the Aceh provincial legislature's special committee preparing the draft legislation, said here on Wednesday that the draft, which had undergone four revisions, would be brought to a plenary session for approval before it was forwarded to the central government.

"We are racing against time to have it enacted in March, 2006, as is stipulated in the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), as local elections to choose a new governor, and new regents and mayors are scheduled to be held in April, 2006, under the new legislation," he said after a meeting to discuss the bill with the Partnership for Governance Reform in Indonesia.

The historic peace agreement between the central government and GAM, signed in Finland on Aug. 15, reads as following: "A new Law on the Governing of Aceh will be promulgated and will enter into force as soon as possible and not later than 31 March 2006."

Another part of the MOU states that the central government will facilitate the establishment of Aceh-based political parties, a crucial condition that would help ensure the political representation of former GAM members, and thus sustain the long awaited peace accord that aims to end the three-decades long conflict in Aceh, which killed over 10,000 people.

Elsewhere, Azhari said that the final draft of the legislation would be handed over to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono this month in the hope that the government would submit it to the House of Representatives next month.

He added that the draft bill already covered all elements in Aceh, as well as the Indonesian Military and National Police.

The bill's content is similar to that of Law No. 18/2001 on special autonomy for Aceh, except as regards local political parties.

The bill provides that groups of 50 Acehnese people, 30 percent of whom are women, will be allowed to set up local parties to contest the elections.

The ideology and objectives of the local parties must be in line with the Pancasila state ideology and the 1945 Constitution, and their general goals should be to develop democracy.

To be eligible to stand in an election, the bill requires a local party to have branches and officers in at least 50 percent of the regencies and subdistricts in Aceh, have its own name, symbol and picture that differ from those of other parties, and have a permanent address in the provincial capital, Banda Aceh.

"As citizens having equal rights before the law, ex-members of GAM will be allowed to set up local political parties as long as they meet all administrative and official requirements," said Azhari.

He added that under the new law, the authorities would take repressive action against all forms of separatist movement in the future.

Azhari also said that despite the tsunami that killed more than 200,000 people last December, the situation in Aceh was gradually returning to normal following the signing of the peace pact.

"There have been no more gunfights and people here are no longer afraid to go out at night thanks to the ongoing disarmament of the rebels and the pullout of combat forces from the province. The reintegration of the ex-rebels into society is already underway. Now, the Acehnese people are waiting for the new legislation and to establish a new administration democratically," he said.