Govt considers revision to special autonomy in Aceh

Muninggar Sri Saraswati and Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

The government is considering modifications to the implementation of special autonomy in Aceh to put an end to three decades of rebellion in the province.

Vice President Jusuf Kalla said on Friday the government would try to provide more details of the special autonomy program on offer to the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels when the peace talks resume in Helsinki in mid-April.

"GAM needs to understand what special autonomy is. Of course there is a possibility there will be modifications to the autonomy framework. (However) all negotiations are about give and take," Kalla said at his office.

The Vice President, who has been assigned by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to handle the Aceh conflict raised the possibility that GAM members may be allowed to contest regional elections for gubernatorial, mayoral or regental posts in Aceh after they secured an amnesty.

Unlike in other regions in Indonesia, in Aceh independent candidates are allowed to vie for regional posts as set out in the local regulations (qanuns) that are endorsed by the Aceh council.

However, the revised law on regional administrations, which also regulates the elections in Aceh, bans "those who have been involved in separatism," from local elections.

Underlining that Aceh was a part of the unitary state of Indonesia, Kalla said the government remained unclear about what GAM's concept of self-rule was in the second informal talks that concluded early this week.

"We want to make sure that it (the offer) is in line with our legislation," Kalla said.

Separately, Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Widodo Adi Sucipto said the government and GAM needed to talk more about their many unresolved differences, including the special autonomy issue, before they could draft any peace agreement.

"GAM is still sensitive about special autonomy, that's why the demand for self-government appeared," he said after reporting the results of the Helsinki talks to the President.

Also present were Minister of Justice and Human Rights Hamid Awaluddin and Minister of Communication and Information Sofyan Djalil, who were also involved in the peace talks.

Widodo said GAM's proposal for self-rule in Aceh was difficult to understand.

"Perhaps it's just a matter of semantics, but we believe it does mean something," Widodo said.

He said both parties had talked about the implementation of special autonomy in Aceh and the possible establishment of local political parties and regional elections in Aceh.

"For Indonesia, special autonomy is not mere terminology. It is legislation produced by a sovereign country, which is the Law No. 18/2001 on special autonomy for Aceh," he said.

Meanwhile, GAM spokesman Bakhtiar Abdullah refused to go into details about his group's proposal for self-government in Aceh but warned the government against dropping the offer of special autonomy.

"We have never retracted our demand for independence," he told The Jakarta Post.

Forms of self government have been granted by European countries to some of their regions -- the most well-known being the recent self-rule granted by Britain to Northern Ireland.

Spain's Galacia, Valencia, Barcelona and Basque provinces also have forms of self rule as do the Danish administrations of Greenland and Faroe Island.

Most of these territories have their own heads of state, either a president or a prime minister, and parliaments. But defense and fiscal affairs remain the central government's domain.

Susilo had asked the government delegation to prepare for another meeting with GAM and had suggested drafting a possible accord, Widodo said.

"But, we have to focus on identifying what the differences are between the two sides before making any further moves," he said.