Implementation of Islamic law in Aceh met coolly

Ibnu Mat Nur, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh

Syariah (Islamic law) has officially been implemented in the province of Aceh or Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam since the beginning of 2002, but Acehnese leaders expressed pessimism on Thursday about the implementation of syariah as its introduction was given a cool reception.

Muchlis Muchtar, a member of commission A of the province's legislative council told The Jakarta Post that the Aceh people had long awaited the implementation of syariah in their daily life.

"But, I see the officials have yet to prepare themselves for that. Corruption is still rampant. No wonder the people have half-heartedly welcomed the decision despite the fact they had eagerly awaited it," Muchlis said.

"The executives, especially in the province, must change their attitude in line with Islamic teachings. If the (provincial) leaders live in accordance with Islamic teachings, the prolonged conflict in Aceh will end soon. I'm convinced of that."

Conflict between the Indonesian police/military and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has yet to be settled, despite series of peace talks. The special autonomy law, with the syariah is expected to become an alternative to end the conflict.

The Syah Kuala University Students' Executive Body (BEM) said in a press statement released on Thursday that the leaders' morals had caused the Acehnese to be pessimistic about the implementation of syariah.

"Therefore, syariah has yet to be well received among the people. Syariah has become a political commodity of the political elite," Fitrah Saputra, the secretary-general of Syah Kuala University's BEM, said.

The students said that the provincial executives did not have the good will or shown serious efforts to implement syariah, which they said could help settle the bloody conflicts in Aceh.

The House of Representatives (DPR) in Jakarta enacted the special autonomy law for Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam in July of last year.

The law stipulates that the province enjoys 70 percent of oil and gas revenue, while the 30 percent will go to the central government. The province will also receive 80 percent of the total revenue from agriculture and fisheries.

With the special autonomy law, which came into effect on Jan. 1 this year, the province is granted the privilege to implement Islamic law, which had been long demanded.

However, it is not yet clear how Islamic law will practically be implemented in daily life. The implementation of syariah had been expected to be a starting point for accelerating the Aceh peace talks.

Many are still puzzled how the Aceh District Court will try those charged with criminal acts or other illegal actions. It is also not clear whether syariah will apply to Muslims only.

The head of the Aceh High Court, Kardjono Darmoatmodjo and the head of the Provincial Religious Court Sofyan M. Saleh were not available for comments. They were reportedly out of town on Thursday.

Earlier, chairman of Aceh's Ulema Consultative Council Tengku Muslim Ibrahim said in Banda Aceh that gradual steps were needed to totally implement Islamic law.

"The main priority is the aqidah (faith), the second step is akhlak (morality) and the last is legal, meaning the criminal and civil laws," Muslim said in a seminar held at the Syah Kuala University late December last year.

Councillor Muchlis said that the executives had submitted the draft of bylaws (directives) for the implementation of syariah to the legislature. "But we have not discussed the issue yet. Maybe next month."

On Wednesday, the province's legislative council had to delay the hearing on the formulation of the bylaws, because most legislators flew to Jakarta to meet Vice President Hamzah Haz.

It was a second delay after the council failed to discuss five of 24 bylaws on Dec. 2 of last year, speaker of the legislative council Zaulius Usman said on Wednesday.