Govt considers revision to special autonomy in Aceh

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.