Acehnese youths want to choose their own leaders

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.