Meeting GAM halfway

The government and the proindependence groups in Aceh appear to have reached a deadlock even before opening any dialog to resolve the crisis. The government on the one hand has firmly rejected any notion of a self-determination vote in Aceh, understandably because it fears that it would set off similar demands from other provinces. On the other hand, proindependence groups in Aceh, led by the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), are demanding no less than a referendum. With both sides hardening their positions these past few weeks, it is doubtful whether the long-awaited visit by President Abdurrahman Wahid to the territory, if and when it happens, will have any real impact.

Aceh meanwhile is fast degenerating into a state of lawlessness. Police have already lost control over parts of the territory as armed gangs roam around terrorizing the populace. The government is increasingly coming under pressure to send the military back to Aceh to restore order. But with the military already widely discredited for its past atrocities in Aceh, another military operation would further antagonize the people there. Since the Aceh problem was largely the military's undoing, sending troops back there would only heighten the tension.

Aceh nevertheless is desperate for a solution, and the only way to find one is if both sides are willing to meet halfway. The initiative could come from President Abdurrahman, and this is something that he could present the people with when he eventually travels to Aceh.

Although it has firmly rejected the demand for a referendum, the government in Jakarta cannot simply turn a blind eye to the independence aspirations in Aceh. The problem is how best to deal with these aspirations, which exist not only in Aceh, but also in other provinces. Past regimes of course had an easy answer: send in the military to quell these groups. But our unhappy experiences in East Timor, Aceh and Irian Jaya should have told us by now that a military option is not a solution at all. In the case of Aceh, we can no longer accept the lost of another life through a military operation.

The best and most effective way of dealing with separatist aspirations is to make some political accommodations. We could let these people form political parties that would fight for their separatist causes through the political system. GAM in Aceh, the Free Papua Movement (OPM) in Irian Jaya, and probably Fretilin in East Timor, would not have taken up arms against Jakarta rule if their independence aspirations had found the necessary political outlets in the first place.

In the case of Aceh, instead of a referendum, President Abdurrahman could offer GAM the chance to turn itself into a political party, and fight whatever causes it wishes to pick up, within the system. That means it would have to fight in a democratic way. The reverse is also true. Those political parties who are obsessed with preserving national unity must fight through the system too.

President Abdurrahman, however, cannot go it alone. He needs to convince the House of Representatives to repeal the political laws which, because of our past blind obsession with national unity, compel all political parties to be based in Jakarta. The laws, while imposing no limit on the number of political parties, effectively closes off all avenues for regional aspirations which Jakarta-based political parties clearly cannot, or more appropriately are not willing to, accommodate.

The current decentralization drive, while laudable, is limited to giving autonomy, delegating administrative tasks from the central to the regional governments. It has not been accompanied by the decentralization of power, which would give regions greater say in the way politics is managed in this country. Repealing the political laws, and allowing people in the regions to set up their own political parties, would go a long way toward accommodating regional sentiments and discontent. The experience of regional based parties in Scotland and Quebec, who are fighting for separation through the political systems, shows that while they do not speak for the entire populace, they have been effective in securing concessions for their respective regions from the central administration in London or Ottawa. Regional based political parties in Indonesia could provide a similar effective check and balance on the powers of Jakarta.

If and when President Abdurrahman travels to Aceh, rather than making rhetorical speeches about national unity, he should come up with a concrete proposal to break the current impasse. He could propose to deregulate the political system, and allow the people in Aceh, and all other regions, to form their own political parties different from the ones in Jakarta.

In this present era of democracy, everything that determines the future of this country must, from now on, be settled by democratic means. Whether it is independence, regional autonomy, federalism, or even national unity and territorial integrity being fought for, it should be fought for through ballots, and not with bullets.