Civil emergency status for Aceh

Civil emergency status for Aceh

Martial law in Indonesia's troubled province, Aceh, will be one year old in five days. The government has decided to end martial law in the country's westernmost province, changing it to a state of civil emergency.

The imposition of martial law in Aceh has been considered a legitimate basis for the Indonesian Military (TNI) to wage war on members of the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM). The latter's 30-year-long attempt to secede from Indonesia paralyzed the bureaucracy in Aceh until May last year.

The imposition of martial law enabled us to see that the measure was a bad decision, for it has claimed thousands of lives.

This daily hopes that whatever policy decisions the government takes on Aceh, they should be based on the state ideology, to create a prosperous and peaceful Aceh. The new Aceh should have a civilized apparatus and military personnel who uphold civilian supremacy. Aceh should have a functioning bureaucracy to empower its people's dynamism.

We should not waste time on arguing whether or not the military should be withdrawn from Aceh totally once the proposed state of civil emergency is in place. A strong and peaceful country will always need the presence of the military to uphold civilian supremacy.

-- Media Indonesia, Jakarta