Acehnese youths want to choose their own leaders

Kanis Dursin, The Jakarta Post, Tamiang, East Aceh

It was only 7 a.m., but hundreds of students had already gathered on the Tamiang Islamic University campus, a two-hectare compound from where King Tengku Arifin ruled in the 19th century.

By 8 a.m., over 500 students had assembled on the campus, each clutching a registration form, to take part in a simulated election. And when the exercise finally kicked off at around 9 a.m., close to 700 students had formed a queue and enthusiastically awaited their turn to vote.

"We want our leaders to be elected directly by the people," Maristina Tambunan, a third-year student from State Senior High School (SMU) II Tamiang, East Aceh said while lining up to cast her vote.

"We want leaders who deliver, not those who make empty promises," Maristina's male schoolmate blurted out.

Maristina and her schoolmate were participants of the simulated election in Tamiang, some 400 kilometers east of the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, last week with the aim of educating Acehnese youth on how to hold a direct and democratic election. The exercise was organized by the Tamiang-based Ma'arif Education Foundation and the Center for Electoral Reform (Cetro).

Law No. 18/2001 on special autonomy for Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD) allows Aceh to hold direct elections for the post of governor, mayor and regent, making it the first province to organize direct elections for heads of regional governments.

The Free Aceh Movement (GAM), which has been fighting for an independent state since 1976, agreed during peace talks in Geneva, Switzerland, in May to use the special autonomy law as the sole basis for future dialog with the Indonesian government.

The Aceh provincial administration, however, is yet to promulgate a bylaw on direct elections as required by the autonomy law.

For the exercise, the Ma'arif Foundation recruited 700 student volunteers from five high schools in Tamiang who will be eligible to vote in 2004, when the country is scheduled to hold a general election. The students, who represented some 700 families, were assisted by 89 volunteer organizers.

The students were asked to elect a regent and deputy regent for Tamiang from three candidates for each post -- two pairs from political parties and one independent pair.

Special interest was put on the election process beginning with the verification of registration forms, ballot papers, vote casting, and vote counting, as well as submitting the vote tally from the election precinct to election organizers at a higher level up to the General the Elections Commission. Ballot papers and the election tally, for example, had to be signed by three election committee members in order to be valid.

Emphasis was also placed on the number of election officials and monitors, and their roles and duties.

"I am glad that I took part in this simulated election because it broadens my knowledge," Siti Aisah, a second-year student from State Senior High School II in Tamiang, said after casting her vote.

She said she would tell her parents that a direct election reduced the possibility of vote buying as it was rather difficult to bribe people.

Field organizer Syarifuddin Ismail, who is also chairman of the Ma'arif Education Foundation, told the Post that the exercise was significant in terms of educating the public, especially the young, on politics and democracy.

"The enthusiasm among students to participate in this exercise reflects the people's strong desire to hold a direct election for Tamiang regent," Syarifuddin said.

But according to noted sociologist Imam B. Prasodjo from the University of Indonesia, it was difficult to gauge if the students' enthusiasm to participate in the exercise reflected the people's desire for direct elections.

"The participants are homogeneous, they are all students," he said.

He, however, believed that the exercise would put pressure on local politicians to draft a bylaw on direct elections for heads of regional administrations.

Cetro chairwoman Smita Notosusanto said that high school students were chosen to take part in the exercise because their vote would be a deciding factor in the 2004 elections.

"They could sway the election race in 2004 since they are first-time voters," Smita said in Tamiang on Tuesday.