Golkar office set on fire in troubled Aceh

JAKARTA (JP): A Golkar Party office in the North Aceh capital of Lhokseumawe was set on fire early Thursday as reports came that the local elections committee requested a delay for the June 7 poll because of escalating tensions in the troubled province.

A local journalist told The Jakarta Post by phone from Lhokseumawe that a group of six unidentified people riding motorcycles torched the two-story building in a predawn attack.

"They came to the office on Jl. Merdeka near the bus terminal at around 4 a.m. and instructed two people inside the building to get out before setting it on fire," Hamdani from the Serambi Indonesia newspaper said.

He quoted witnesses as saying the motorcycles were without license plates. He said the police still could not identify the attackers.

"The police only said the attack was aimed at boycotting the elections," Hamdani said.

The military said the Free Aceh Movement separatist members have been intimidating residents and forcing them to boycott the elections.

Calls have grown stronger in Aceh for a referendum on self- determination and an election boycott since the military shootings in the North Aceh village of Krueng Geukueh on May 3 which killed at least 41 civilians.

North Aceh, Pidie and East Aceh are the regencies which suffered the most during a decade-long military operation against separatist rebels which was only halted last year.

Resentment against the military and Jakarta has also risen, and residents and observers alike accused soldiers of widespread human rights violations during anti-rebel operations.

On Tuesday, the military said six people -- two soldiers, a female doctor and her staff member, and two migrant settlers -- were killed by separatist members in the North Aceh district of Peudada.

The National Elections Committee (PPI) deputy chairman Hasballah M. Saad was quoted by Antara as saying the Aceh Elections Committee requested an election delay.

The General Elections Commission (KPU) discussed the possible postponement in a plenary meeting on Thursday, by the end of which chairman Rudini concluded that voters in Aceh could hold a delayed vote if security up until June 7 did not permit the poll.

The law stipulates the elections could be delayed for 30 days.

Minister of Home Affairs Syarwan Hamid suggested on Wednesday that elections in Aceh could be delayed for security reasons.

Chief of the Bukit Barisan military command Maj. Gen. A. Gaffar acknowledged the situation in North Aceh, Pidie and East Aceh was so dangerous that it was almost impossible to hold campaigns safely.

Head of Aceh's Elections Committee Ahmad Farhan Hamid said on Wednesday that some 58 percent of the province's 2.3 million eligible voters have registered for the elections.

Ahmad, however, said only 13.6 percent, 22.5 percent and 61 percent of the voters had so far registered in Pidie, North Aceh and East Aceh respectively.

He also said in North Aceh and Pidie "people can barely see any campaign activities".

Ahmad said earlier that 38 political parties registered in Aceh would not hold campaigns in areas where there were safety concerns.

Party officials were attacked in several areas of Aceh last week and at least three cars were set on fire.

Doctors

Meanwhile, head of the Lhokseumawe General Hospital Mulya A. Hasjmy said on Thursday doctors in North Aceh were ready to flee the regency following the death of their colleagues in Tuesday's shooting.

"Doctors here have been asking for a security guarantee from the military... if the military can not guarantee their safety, they will leave here," Mulya told the Post.

He said there were about 100 doctors in North Aceh alone and many of them were migrants from Java and the North Sumatra capital of Medan.

"The doctors have been evacuating their families to Medan," Mulya said adding that streets in Lhokseumawe are now deserted at nights. (byg)