Aceh problem will drag on

Due to a worsening security problem, Aceh, which once again is restless, looks like it'll cause more and more headaches for the central government. Reports coming from the country's northernmost province show that the security situation there is deteriorating.

Since many reports and ensuing official statements are confusing, however, the province itself is also shrouded in mystery. Even worse will be the coming days which do not promise any hope either.

Lately there have been more armed clashes between military and what it calls the "security disturbing movement". The bloody incidents are always followed by statements, some of which are confusing, many unpalatable for healthy stomachs. Some are plain shocking.

The latest and most bizarre news from there is about the government's possible delay of the general election in three Aceh regencies for security reasons.

This followed earlier reports saying that the separatist group, which calls itself the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), scared poll registration officers from carrying out their job. GAM has also seized voter registration documents from the public, reports said.

Yesterday, reports coming in from Lhokseumawe, a preeminent industrial town and the capital of North Aceh regency, said that unknown assailants had set a Golkar office on fire. Golkar, the political election machine of former president Soeharto, still plans to contest the June polls in an effort to retain its rule.

There has also been several other poll-related incidents in other parts of Aceh, involving unidentified groups. What menaces people most in this situation is that they have nowhere to complain or seek protection from GAM's activists because the police and military are busy with self-protection ventures.

The situation looks more confusing since the provincial administration seems to have lost touch with reality. In an apparent reaction to an earlier tragedy in which 40 unarmed protesters were shot dead by the military, the provincial governor and other members of the local ruling elite issued a joint statement on May 11 calling for residents to be "aware of underground groups speaking about freedom for Aceh but with real intention to abort next month's polls".

The statement is pointless because it fails to express any regret for the cold-blooded murders or at least call for a thorough and objective investigation into the tragedy. This manifestation of official thoughtlessness will reduce public respect for local authorities and will ironically widen fertile land with the seeds of separatism.

In this situation, it is hard to foresee if the polls will really take place in the three troubled regencies, i.e. North, East Aceh and Pidie, because there is really no light at the end of the tunnel, even if there is no tunnel to be found.

The delay -- which will only cause self-humiliation throughout the vast archipelago -- will show the naked failure of the authorities in handling the Aceh problem. It will further tarnish the image of President B. J. Habibie's government in the province and ironically, will make GAM feel victorious.

We only hope that the government will learn from past experiences that it never was able to solve Aceh's problems through a military approach in the province, in which more than 1,000 people were brutally tortured or killed and hundreds of women raped.