Considering an alternative to the direct elections in Aceh
Considering an alternative to the direct elections in Aceh
C. Effendi, Jakarta
The governor and 16 regency heads will end their tenures in
the province of Aceh by the end of 2005. The earliest election
for regency head should have been conducted in Aceh Barat regency
by Dec. 5, 2004. Governor Abdullah Puteh, who is currently being
detained by the Attorney General's Office and who is on trial in
Jakarta on charges of corruption, will have to end his tenure on
Nov. 25, 2005.
According to Law No. 18/2001 on special autonomy for Aceh and
Law No. 2/2004 on direct elections for governors and regents, the
Regional Election Commission in Banda Aceh will have to be ready
to execute direct elections.
The main question is, are direct elections a possibility or
simply a wishful thinking after the devastating earthquake and
tsunami? So far, there is no legal option that makes it possible
to delay the election process.
Chairman of Commission II at the House of Representatives,
Ferry Mursyidan Baldan, offered a solution. The earthquake and
tsunami in Aceh should be regarded, legally speaking, as force
majeure, and therefore it is possible to delay the election
process for the next two or three years until it is considered
fit for the Acehnese people to participate in elections.
What needs to be done, according to Ferry Mursyidan Baldan,
is to incorporate a special clause in the current government
regulations concerning the direct elections in order to delay the
elections for governor and regency heads in Aceh.
The questions that need to be pondered here are: Is it still
possible to again empower the regency/provincial legislative
assemblies to elect regency heads and the governor in Aceh? If
that is the case, how legitimate is the election process?
With or without the earthquake and tsunami, the Acehnese has
suffered from a long history of intimidation, economic
mismanagement and military oppression.
Official documents from the Ministry of Home Affairs published
in December 2004 reveal the implementation of the provincial
government in Aceh is loaded with problems. Regencies like North
Aceh, Bireun, Pidie, Aceh Timur and Aceh Besar are practically
ungovernable.
Security threats, intimidation and mysterious shootings by
the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) cause fear among the majority of the
local apparatus. Many of the local apparatus have decided either
to collaborate secretly with the rebels or leave their regencies.
The situation is further worsened by the deep mistrust and
suspicion among the local and provincial government apparatus.
The civilian authority of the Aceh province suspect that a small
number of government apparatus in Aceh use double-standards.
The authority also suspects their loyalty to the provincial
government in Banda Aceh. Lack of discipline, corruption in
various government programs, underqualified civil servants
further complicate good governance in Aceh.
Most of the problems in Aceh are a reflection of the fact that
Aceh has been under martial law, which affects almost all aspects
of social, economic and political life in the province.
Aceh had a total population of 4,227,000 (2004 data). The
provincial election commission divided Aceh into eight electoral
regencies. The total number of seats in the Aceh Provincial
Legislative Assembly is 69. Every member of the provincial
assembly needs to have up to 61,260 to win a seat.
Other data shows that of the population of 4,227,000, 468,823
people live in coastal regions. It is difficult to gauge how many
of these people survived the tsunami.
The dislocation of the majority of the Acehnese, who are used
to living in coastal regions, will be the most difficult problem,
since the majority of them are now in refugee camps scattered
around the region.
It may take at least six months to gather the needed data
throughout the province. The main concern is that the provincial
and regental election commissions have the capacity to execute
this difficult task given the fact that almost every agency in
Aceh was affected by the tsunami.
The rational choice is of course to delay the elections until
the whole process is thoroughly prepared.
As yet, it is still uncertain the number of tsunami victims
among the provincial and regental government apparatus, and their
positions. What is surely certain is that the provincial and
regency governments in Aceh need new people who will be ready to
occupy those vacant positions left behind by the tsunami victims.
Here lies the need to improve the capacity of the provincial
and regency not only to cope with routine government problems,
but also to deal with multitude effects of the crisis. Given the
fact that the government in Aceh still needs to adjust itself to
the current situation, it is questionable as to whether they are
ready to execute direct elections in more than 16 regencies.
Delaying the elections in Aceh will be against the democratic
rights of the Acehnese people, but holding direct elections in
Aceh in the aftermath of the devastation is morally out of the
question.
The only alternative is to empower the provincial and regency
representative assemblies to conduct elections for governor and
regency heads.
To ensure that the election process will be conducted in a
democratic, transparent and legitimate manner, civil society
needs to be engaged and help guarantee that the whole process is
a true reflection of the aspirations of the Acehnese people.
Here, the central government, especially the Ministry of Home
Affairs and the central boards of political parties with majority
seats both in the province as well as in the regencies, need to
commit themselves that the whole selection process for regency
heads will be thoroughly transparent and democratic.
Transparent and democratic elections of regency heads and the
governor in Aceh can be a good start for the establishment of
government based on the true aspirations of the Acehnese.
Provincial and regency representative assemblies need to be
empowered to organize the election process pending the completion
of the whole process of the reconstruction of infrastructures in
Aceh.
This is to be followed by the establishment of provincial and
regency governments based on good governance in the entire
region, monitored by the central government. It is against the
very pride of the Acehnese to see before their eyes their
governor being questioned by the attorney general on corruption
charges, while the majority of the Acehnese are struggling
between life and death amid the destruction caused by the
earthquake and tsunami.
The writer is a researcher at The Indonesian Institute, Center
for Public Policy Research, Jakarta. He can be reached at
cecep_effendi@yahoo.com.