AMM's role could be a contentious issue

AMM's role could be a contentious issue

Aleksius Jemadu, Bandung

The success of a monitoring mission involving foreign parties
in resolving an intra-state conflict can be achieved as long as
the implementation of the peace agreement satisfies the
expectations of the conflicting parties. What are the
expectations of the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh
Movement (GAM) as regards the implementation of the peace
agreement in Aceh? Both the Indonesian government and GAM
acknowledge that the peace agreement is the best result that can
be hoped for from a long process of negotiation. It is a kind of
win-win solution for both sides.

However, the implementation of the peace agreement may
eventually flounder on incompatible expectations. It is quite
clear that for the Indonesian government the most important thing
is that GAM abandons its claim for an independent state and
disarms itself at a time when international donors are closely
watching the post-tsunami reconstruction of Aceh.

While on the Indonesian side debates about the content of the
peace agreement are still going on, GAM appears to be more solid
and united in welcoming the peace process. There are various
reasons why GAM leaders should feel happier today than they did
when the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (COHA) was signed in
2002.

First, the current peace agreement has opened the way for GAM
to continue its struggle by transforming itself into a local
political party. The martial law that was imposed by the
Indonesian government in May 2003 had a devastating impact on
GAM's military structure. Thus, there is no reason for GAM to
stick with the military struggle.

Second, the peace agreement clearly stipulates that Aceh's
future legislature will be a powerful body. According to the
agreement, the Indonesian government needs the consent of the Aceh
legislature whenever it makes strategic decisions related to the
interests of Aceh. GAM has calculated that as a local political
party it will have a good chance of dominating local elections.
Why?

Most of the Acehnese people still feel let down by Jakarta.
Years of abuse of human rights abuses, unfair exploitation of Aceh's
natural resources, and a series of corruption scandals have
occupied the collective mind of the Acehnese to such an extent
that they will reject any kind of politics that represents a
return of Jakarta's dominance. Thus, other local political
parties will have a hard time challenging the highly motivated
young members of GAM. Assuming that the local elections will
produce an overwhelming majority for GAM, doesn't it sound like a
referendum by any other name?

The third reason for GAM's enthusiasm is the wide authority
given to the Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM). The agreement sets
out a list of the AMM's duties. Of particular importance is the
fact that the AMM is authorized to monitor changes in the
legislation and launch investigations if such changes deviate from
the principles of the agreement.

On top of that, it is also clearly stipulated that the head of
the AMM is authorized to rule on any dispute and that his
ruling is binding on all sides. It even says that if eventually
the two parties cannot agree on the ruling by the AMM head, "the
Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Crisis Management
Initiative will make a ruling which will be binding on the
parties".

There are signs that the Indonesian government is beginning to develop a
different perception of the role of the AMM. When President Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono briefed the military top brass recently on the
substance of the peace agreement, he convinced them that they
should not worry about the role of the AMM as the body was not
authorized to rule on any dispute between the two sides. He said
that such authority belonged to the central government. This
statement by the President appears to contradict the substance of
the peace agreement.

The first month of implementation of the peace agreement seems
to have passed off smoothly. The biggest test for the survival of
the agreement will arise when it becomes time to change the
legislation and whether the Indonesian government will abide by
the AMM rulings if there are legitimate complaints from GAM
regarding incompatibility between the proposed new legislation
and the principles contained in the peace agreement. It is very
likely that the Indonesian side will face difficulties in
fulfilling its obligations in accordance with those principles.

All sides should be happy with the fact that today the
Acehnese people can enjoy peace. We must not let politicking
among the Jakarta elite to disrupt that enjoyment, given that the
Acehnese people have been longing for peace for decades.

The writer is head of the Department of International
Relations, Parahyangan University, Bandung. He can be reached at
aleks@home.unpar.ac.id.