Govt speeds up autonomy, special status for Aceh

Govt speeds up autonomy, special status for Aceh

JAKARTA (JP): Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs and
Security Gen. Wiranto said the government would speed up the
implementation of newly enacted laws on autonomy and on the
status of Aceh as a special territory in an attempt to quell
rising political dissatisfaction in the restive province.

Speaking to journalists after attending a plenary Cabinet
meeting in Bina Graha presidential office on Saturday, Gen.
Wiranto said the laws would guarantee greater self-rule and
larger shares from the province's oil and gas revenues to be
allocated to the people.

He said the government would soon launch an intensive campaign
to familiarize the laws and the benefits people could gain from
its implementation.

"If necessary we will explain their benefits in figures," Gen.
Wiranto said.

Gen. Wiranto did not mention the necessity of imposing limited
martial law in Aceh as was proposed by outgoing Army chief Gen.
Subagyo Hadisiswoyo and National Police chief Gen. Roesmanhadi.

"As a comparison, the relationship between the central
government and Aceh is like that of a father and his children,
there are always problems between them," he said of the growing
calls for independence in the province.

He appealed to the Acehnese to remain calm and help ensure a
soothing atmosphere which would help durable operations in vital
industries in the province, namely the Arun Liquefied Natural Gas
(LNG) plant and the Iskandar Muda fertilizer plant.

He warned of severe national economic repercussions if the
operations of those two facilities were disturbed, noting that
they could stop operating if the situation deteriorated.

"Imagine if, for instance, the LNG supply to Japan, which is
used for the power supply in a city there, is suddenly halted. Of
course, after that they would not want to continue buying from
us," Gen. Wiranto said.

Meanwhile, Minister of Human Rights Hasballah M. Saad once
again gave a stern warning to his colleagues in the military and
police against imposing martial law in his native province,
saying it would only invite hostility and trigger new violence.

"Martial law would only invite hostility and would not help us
reach the peaceful objectives we want to reach," Hasballah said
before attending the plenary Cabinet meeting.

He further warned that martial law would ruin any chance of a
peaceful solution to the delicate problem. "The chance for dialog
would be finished. That means the problem would then be solved
through violence," he remarked.

U.S.

In a related development, visiting United States Ambassador to
the United Nations Richard Holbrooke Sunday opposed calls for
martial law in troubled Aceh province.

Holbrooke said the Clinton administration strongly opposed
calls by some Indonesian officials - including the national
police chief - that martial law be imposed to quell growing
separatism in the oil-rich region.

"In this argument about martial law, the United States is
encouraged and supportive of President Gus Dur's stated
opposition to such an action," Holbrooke told reporters at the
end of a two-day visit to Jakarta.

"But opposition to martial law should not be read by people at
the extremes in Aceh as saying they have a license to create
chaos and confrontation," he was quoted as saying by AP.

But Holbrooke warned against drawing parallels with
Yugoslavia's violent breakup.

"I do understand why people make the comparison, but the
differences are absolutely critical," he said. "Indonesian
culture could not be more different than the culture of the
Balkans, and cultural factors matter."

Holbrooke and Assistant Secretary of State Stanley Roth flew
to West Timor later on Sunday to look at refugee camps housing
hundreds of thousands of East Timorese who fled the violence.

Holbrooke and Roth are due to go to East Timor on Monday.

Meanwhile in Medan, North Sumatra, some 700 Acehnese residing
there held a gathering at the city's Heroes Cemetery on Saturday
to express their support for a referendum in their native
province.

"All elements of the Aceh community living in Medan will
attend the gathering to show their support for a referendum,"
said Rina Syamsuddin, a proreferendum activist in Medan.

People from all walks of life arrived for the evening
gathering, mostly wearing white bandanas with the words
"referendum" inscribed.

Using the local Aceh dialect, community figures took turns
expressing support for the referendum, while people showed their
support by signing a giant white canvas prepared by organizers.

The coordinator of the gathering, Fuady Sony, stated several
demands, which included a referendum in Aceh before 2000 and a
rejection of the imposition of martial law.(prb/39)