Civilian supremacy in Aceh

Civilian supremacy in Aceh

A bloody war is at the doorstep of the restive province of
Aceh. Indonesian citizens will soon kill each other in a terrible
battle. It's only a matter of time.

Aceh has been a boiling hot spot for 26 years, and no one can
guarantee that the conflict will end soon.

The province has a long history of conflicts, beginning with
its fight against the Dutch colonialists, and followed by the
Free Aceh Movement's (GAM) armed resistance against the
Indonesian Military. The history of Aceh has also been sprinkled
with government-sponsored military operations, after the
government designated Aceh as one of the Military Operation Zones
(DOM). History proves that GAM cannot be eliminated completely.

A prolonged war causes casualties. In the case of Aceh, the
list of victims will grow longer and longer, as the clashes go on
uninterrupted.

The April 25 meeting between the Indonesian government and GAM
in Geneva will be crucial, where the decision to take up arms and
go to war, or to sit down and work out another peace deal, will
be made.

The April 25 meeting is, of course, a setback, in light of the
peace deal that was signed on Dec. 9, 2002, known as the
Cessation of Hostilities Agreement. The deal has been violated by
both the warring groups, because they do not trust one another.

If the Geneva meeting fails, the government should not take
any military action prior to approval from the House of
Representatives through a plenary session.

Any militaristic decision must be based on civilian supremacy.

-- Media Indonesia, Jakarta

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Otherop-market-operation
Is market operation effective?
JP/6/

Is market operation effective?

Sugar has suddenly become a rare commodity. The product has
reportedly vanished in Surabaya and Malang (both in East Java)
since last week. Some people, however, question the scarcity of
the commodity, considering that sugar has been imported to the
country.

An official at the Ministry of Industry and Trade suspects
that some distributors are hoarding the sugar, hoping its price
would soar before they distribute it to the market, so that they
may reap greater profits.

The ministry is responsible for these delinquent distributors,
and has assigned the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) to manage the
sugar business, according to a ministerial decree.

When the price of sugar drops, Bulog will buy the commodity in
a bid to increase its price; and when the price soars, the agency
will release stock onto the market to reduce the price. This is
called "market operation".

However, the effectiveness of a market operation is
questionable, as the scarcity of sugar on the market shows that
the mechanism has failed.
-- Bisnis Indonesia, Jakarta

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Otherop-Jakarta-Moscow
Jakarta-Moscow
JP/6/

Jakarta-Moscow

A new alliance -- Jakarta-Moscow -- may have come to the minds
of many people when Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri
and Russian Vladimir Putin signed memoranda of understanding for
technical and military cooperation in Moscow this Monday.

Indonesia has agreed to buy helicopters, middle- and long-
range missiles and Sukhoi jet fighters. In return, Russia is to
develop massive projects in Indonesia, including the rocket and
satellite launch pads in Biak, Papua, and a floating nuclear
power plant.

From a geopolitical point of view, the purchase of Russian
military equipment is considered to be important to lessen
Indonesia's dependency on the United States. Experience has
taught us that our complete reliance on the U.S. put us in a
difficult situation when the U.S. halted its military
cooperation, including the sales of weaponry, with Indonesia
following the East Timor violence in 1991. This dependence has
obviously been used by Washington to pressure Jakarta.

We don't know exactly what our military really needs.
President Megawati said that our military equipment was too old,
but there has been no explanation as to whether we really need
Sukhoi jet fighters and S-300 long-range missiles. We also don't
know if the Sukhoi would be compatible with the current F-16
fleets we bought from the U.S.

Minimizing our dependence on the U.S. and building a nonpolar
world is important, but purchasing arms and military equipment is
another matter which needs a serious and thorough consideration.

It seems that the decision to buy military equipment from
Russia was made by the President alone.

-- Koran Tempo, Jakarta