GAM and elections

GAM and elections

The Jakarta Post reported on page three of its Jan. 11
edition a statement from the Indonesian chief negotiator, Wiryono
Sastrohandoyo, who is a seasoned and very experienced diplomat.

Wiryono said: "The government should allow GAM to join the
elections and it needs to find a way to enable GAM to participate
in the political process."

As a non-diplomat and non-politician, it is very difficult for
me to understand the reasoning behind this statement. First of
all, GAM is an illegal organization, which has been fighting to
gain independence for the Acehnese and separation from the
Republic.

Can an organization, which is against the 1945 Constitution,
have the right to participate in a legal political process?
Wiryono should know that answer! Legal political parties hoping
to participate in the general election have to register at the
Ministry of Justice and Human Rights and should have
representative offices in a predetermined percentage of the
provinces. They should also comply with all kinds of regulations.

In the reform era, we have 148 registered political parties,
but only 48 are qualified to participate in the elections. For
the next election in 2004 Indonesia has 237 registered political
parties. And all those recognized parties are loyal to the 1945
Constitution.

If Wiryono said that the government needs to find ways to
allow former members of GAM to participate in the general
election after they swear allegiance to the unitary republic of
Indonesia, proclaimed on Aug. 17, 1945, then this is a matter
that can be taken into consideration.

SOEGIH ARTO, Jakarta