Aceh local parties may be kept out of polls

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government is drafting a bill on the Aceh administration, which may dash the hopes of former Aceh rebels to contest posts in the regional administration under their own regional party.

The bill, proposed by the Ministry of Home Affairs, makes no mention about whether local parties will be restricted to local elections, only permitting the establishment of parties in the province allowed to contest the general elections.

Referring to the law on political parties, Article 58, paragraph 3, of the bill requires all political parties in Aceh to have representative offices in least in a half of the country's 33 provinces.

"The establishment of local parties has been agreed to by both parties in a bid to accommodate political participation of locals. If the bill (only) refers to the national legislation on political parties, then I think the government has missed the mission of the peace accord," Choirul Anam of human rights watchdog Imparsial said.

The peace agreement inked by government and Free Aceh Movement representatives (GAM) in Helsinki last August stipulates the formation of Aceh-based political parties that meet national criteria within a year after the signing. It also requires the government to create, at the latest 18 months from the signing of the peace accord, the legal framework for local political parties to contest posts in the Aceh administration in consultation with the House of Representatives.

The bill, meanwhile, says an Aceh-based party could be formed by at least 50 people aged at least 21 years old.

Choirul said it would be easy for the former rebels to establish their own parties, but these parties would find it difficult to meet the requirements to contest executive and legislative posts.

Another restriction is also seen in the bill as Article 39 of the draft, banning all Acehnese who have applied for foreign citizenship from holding key posts in future Aceh administrations.

"This article is unfair. We know that Indonesia doesn't recognize double citizenship, but once Acehnese seek naturalization, they must be treated equally like others," Choirul said.

The bill also spells out the enforcement of sharia, saying it is a specific religious value in the predominantly Muslim province.

But Choirul said the implementation of sharia was "a centralized-heavy policy", instead of representing the voice of locals. Most Acehnese believe that religious affairs "were part of people's social and cultural interaction" and not matters for the state, he said.

Expecting that the bill could be endorsed in March next year, three Aceh-based universities and the Aceh administration are now preparing their own separate draft laws on Aceh administration.

A member of GAM negotiating team said, however, that no GAM members had been consulted on the draft legislation for Aceh.

"We have not been part in the deliberation process of the bill. But we hope the spirit of the legislation will not violate the spirit of the peace agreement in order to prevent the truce from breaking down," Mohammed Nur Djuli told The Jakarta Post.

"I suggest that all parties, either the central government or local thinkers here, take into account the basic freedoms of all people. The Acehnese must free to voice their aspirations upon all things in democratic circumstances," he said.