Acehnese told not to pursue partition

Acehnese told not to pursue partition

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

The demands for Aceh's partition should not be a priority for
immediate discussion so as to avoid shifting the focus of
attention from the reconstruction work in the tsunami-ravaged
province, lawmakers have said.

They told those people in Aceh clamoring for the province to
be split into three provinces to instead give their full support to
the efforts of the Aceh and Nias Reconstruction and
Rehabilitation Agency (BRR).

"The people of Aceh are currently busy with various programs
under the supervision of the BRR, and others resulting from the
recent peace deal between the government and the Free Aceh
Movement (GAM)," said Acehnese House of Representatives member
Ferry Mursyidan Baldan.

He said the peace accord also assigned Aceh's decision-makers
two main tasks -- the formulation of a new law on the government
of Aceh and local direct elections scheduled for April next year.

Ferry, who chairs the House security and internal affairs
commission, was speaking to The Jakarta Post on Friday after
receiving a group of people from Aceh who have staged several
rallies in Jakarta to push their demands for the creation of two
new provinces in Aceh -- Aceh Leuser Antara (ALA) and Southwest
Aceh (ABS).

If formed, ALA would comprise Central Aceh, Southeast Aceh,
Aceh Singkil, Gayo Lues and Bener Meriah regencies, while
Southwest Aceh would consist of South Aceh, Northwest Aceh, Aceh
Jaya, Semuelue and Nagan Raya regencies. Currently, Aceh is
divided into 20 regencies and municipalities.

Armen Deski, a local figure representing Gayo Lues, said
during Friday's meeting that the proponents of the Aceh split
would cease using Acehnese symbols and other attributes should
the government and the House refuse to immediately respond to
their demands.

Most of the proponents opposed the GAM insurgency in Aceh.

Demands for the establishment of two new provinces in Aceh
actually started several years ago when President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono was the chief security minister during the Megawati
Soekarnoputri administration.

GAM and Acehnese scholars have said the central government
would undermine the Aug. 15 peace accord signed in Helsinki,
Finland, should it accept the demands for partition.

They argued that Aceh's division would fly in the face of
agreement, which defines the province's borders as those
determined on July 1, 1956.

However, Ferry said that partition would not contravene the
agreement as it did not explicitly state that Aceh must be ruled
by only one provincial administration.

"I suggest that they (the partition proponents) be patient,
pending the establishment of a definitive administration and
legislature in Aceh. I hope this will prevent others from
thinking that the demands are being engineered by the central
government," he said.

The Ministry of Home Affairs said any demand for the partition
of a province must satisfy certain conditions, including the
approval of the local governor and councillors.

The formation of a new province must also obtain the approval
of at least five regents, it added.

"It looks like it will be a long road ahead before the demands
for the establishment of new provinces in Aceh are heeded,"
ministry spokesman Sojuangan Situmorang said on Friday.