I'm puzzled by govt attitude
I sometimes am puzzled by the attitude of my government, which is trying to get information about a national issue from foreigners, as if leading Indonesians are not bonafide.
An example is the effort of the government to get information from the Henry Dunant Center as to why the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in Indonesia has refused to sign a peace agreement before the month of Ramadhan, instead preferring to wait until after Idul Fitri.
It is high time the government took a firm position and not act as if it doesn't know what to do and keep this problem hanging in the air.
The government should realize that GAM should listen to the government and not the other way round. Law and order must prevail in this reform era and the government is responsible for that.
Dialogues are useless because GAM considered that to free themselves from poverty and backwardness is to separate Aceh from Indonesia and that is the reason why they cannot accept the status of special autonomy. What more does the legal government want to know and what will the government discuss? Their statement is loud and clear and can not be interpreted in any other way. This is not their first statement, because they have issued this kind of statement several times before.
The government should say, "if this is your position and you want to stick to it, then we (the government) will act according to our legal duty". The government should listen to what the Army chief Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu said on his visit to Aceh.
Ignore GAM, and start as soon as possible with serious steps to improve the economy and restore welfare of the Aceh people, rebuild schools, give back a sense of safe living, so they can start a normal life. All these welfare activities must be given priority and protected by the police and the military.
Meanwhile military operation is second in nature. If military action is at all necessary, that's due to GAM's aggressiveness. Again the people must be separated from GAM by concrete economic steps.
SOEGIH ARTO, Jakarta