House passes bill granting special autonomy for Aceh

JAKARTA (JP): The House of Representatives (DPR) enacted on Thursday a law providing special autonomy for Naggroe Aceh Darussalam, with 70 percent of oil and gas revenue going to the province and 30 percent to the central government.

The bill had requested that 85 percent of the oil and gas revenue went to the province.

The law also regulates that the province of Naggroe Aceh Darussalam -- the new name officiated by the law -- will receive 80 percent of the total revenue from agriculture and fisheries as provided for in the bill.

Profit sharing will be effective within eight years, instead of the 10 years proposed in the draft law. After eight years, profit sharing will be 50/50, the law stipulates.

In their plenary session on Thursday, all 10 factions at the House also agreed to the implementation of syariah (Islamic law) for Muslims in the province as was proposed in the bill.

Several Acehnese figures in traditional costume and dozens of people from the province also attended the plenary session.

"We hope that the law will have a positive impact on the people of Aceh, and help them to improve their economic situation and level of security, and finally enhance their life," the chairman of the special law committee at the House, Ferry Mursyidan Baldan, said.

The law also stipulates that the appointment of police chief and provincial prosecutor should be approved by the governor.

"The law is expected to be gradually implemented over the year from the date it was passed," Ferry said.

In the provincial capital of Banda Aceh, Antara reported that the national red-and-white flag was seen flying in all corners of the city soon after the autonomy bill was enacted into law.

The national flag has rarely been hoisted in the restive province over the last two years.

Reaction

However, the Acehnese had a mixed reaction to the deliberation of the law.

Chairman of Commission A of the Aceh provincial legislative council Mustafa Abdullah Gelanggang said the law was a starting point for accelerating the Aceh peace talks. "The central government should issue a directive and a provincial decree should also be issued, or else the law will be rejected by the Acehnese."

Meanwhile, the chairman of the provincial chapter of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), Teuku Bahrum Manyak, said his party welcomed the law. "This is the first step toward solving all of Aceh's problems. PDI Perjuangan will study it later and ask for a possible review for the sake of the Acehnese.

"We hope that this (the law) is not a (political) game."

Nazamuddin Muhammad, the deputy chairman of the master program on economic development at Syah Kuala state university, said that the substance of the autonomy law for Aceh was self-government and revenue sharing. "We must be extra careful in these matters."

Spokesman for the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) Sofyan Ibrahim Tiba told The Jakarta Post that GAM had yet to accept the law "as it was not the Acehnese who deliberated it".

"The Acehnese at the House and the provincial legislature can not claim to represent all of the Acehnese as most of us skipped the (Indonesian) 1999 general election.

"GAM will accept the law after all Acehnese have an opportunity to express their stance (toward the law) through a free and democratic referendum, monitored by international organizations."

He said that GAM was still skeptical about the law. "The central government could withdraw it and annul it whenever it wants." (dja/50/sur)