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.