'Black zone' gears for general elections

'Black zone' gears for general elections

Nani Farida, The Jakarta Post, Lhokseumawe, Aceh

Sawang district, Aceh province, is determined to see political
parties campaigning for the upcoming general election, despite
the fact that it is still classified as a "black zone" by the
Indonesian Military (TNI).

"Black zone" refers to an area that is still heavily
influenced by the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), which has been at war
with the TNI since the Indonesian government declared martial law
in Aceh in May last year.

Sawang district head First. Lt. Abdul Barri has said the
Indonesian government would assure elections in the district
would go smoothly, despite security threats. Abdul said he had
requested additional military and police personnel to safeguard
elections in the district.

The district has a police subprecinct office and a military
command subprecinct office, but with the polls drawing near, the
district government will ask the TNI to build two additional
command posts in the district.

In addition, the district government has also established an
Emergency Service (Linmas), and some 300 volunteers have already
been trained to guard the elections on April 5.

"At the outset, seven village heads in Sawang were threatened
by GAM rebels for recruiting people to become Linmas volunteers
but that problem has already been overcome," Abdul told The
Jakarta Post.

The district government is taking other precautionary measures
to ensure the success of the polls.

Abdul said the district government would merge polling booths,
so security personnel could be more concentrated, minimizing the
risks.

It was originally planned to have 62 polling booths in 15
locations in the district, but these numbers might be reduced.

There are 16,754 eligible voters registered in Sawang.

According to data from the Sawang administration, of the 15
planned polling locations, only two are considered safe, namely
the villages of Ulee Geudong and Abeuk Reuling.

Five locations are considered somewhat dangerous and eight
very dangerous.

A local resident said there were about 60 members of GAM still
active in Sawang subdistrict.

A security "gray zone" is where the majority of residents are
pro-TNI, while a "white zone" refers to an area where all the
residents are pro-TNI.

"Since 2000, Sawang has been in the hands of GAM. In 1999
there were no elections here," said Muhammad, 55, a Sawang
resident.

Regarding the elections campaign, the commander of the Sawang
military command, Chief Warrant Officer Suamsuar, said that at
the moment three locations for campaigning in Sawang had been
determined.

These locations are soccer fields in the villages of Teungoh,
Paya Rabo and Sawang.

As the district government steps up efforts to tighten
security in the district, district head Abdul Barri urged
political parties to establish party secretariats in the
district. "They should not worry about security here."

No political parties currently have secretariats in the
district because of security threats.