Megawati, Acehnese pray for lasting peace
Nani Farida and Ibnu Mat Noor, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh, Aceh
President Megawati Soekarnoputri joined some 2,000 people in a prayer for peace in Aceh on Tuesday, eight days after the government and separatist rebels signed a deal to cease 26 years of hostilities.
A large banner reading "The People Love Peace" was hung outside the Grand Baiturrahman Mosque in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh, where Megawati attended the solemn prayer.
She arrived at 5:30 p.m. in Banda Aceh for a two-day visit along with many ministers, and was welcomed by Aceh Governor Abdullah Puteh and other high-ranking local officials. The president later headed directly to the mosque.
In her five-minute speech during the prayer, Megawati said she was optimistic that Aceh would recover in two years, if the peace was maintained.
"This is not mere flattery, and I am confident that the dream imagined by the Acehnese people and myself will come true in the near future," she said.
The peace accord signed on Dec. 9 in Geneva by the government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) "marks a new page in life, but only the Acehnese people can write the pages of the future," she said.
Megawati stressed that peace had been awaited "for so long, not just by the Acehnese, whom I love, but by all Indonesians."
Joining Megawati were Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla, Coordinating Minister for the Economy Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti, Indonesian Military Chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto and National Police Chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar.
The head of state ended her speech by calling on the Acehnese to continue their prayers and thanksgivings for peace.
Governor Puteh said the Acehnese people had doubted Megawati's promises made previously to stop the bloodshed in the resource- rich province.
"People here thought it was only political jargon, but it has now become reality with the signing of the peace agreement," he told the crowd at the mosque.
Farhan Hamid, a House of Representatives member from Aceh, praised Megawati's speech as "direct and logical." "I thank Megawati for not making lofty promises as she did during her previous visit," he added.
On the sidelines of Megawati's prayer however, a young man held up a 50 x 60 centimeter banner at the rear of the mosque, which read: "Let the Acehnese determine their own fate".
The unidentified man was later arrested by police in Banda Aceh for questioning. "The youth seems to know nothing. He was apparently hired to raise the banner. Now he has been taken out for dinner and will soon be released," Maj. Taufik, a local police officer, said.
After the prayer at Baiturrahman Mosque, the president was to have dinner at the governor's official residence, where she would stay overnight.
On Wednesday, she will visit a development exhibit and meet provincial and district officials and legislators before flying home.
Some 2,000 troops as well as police had been deployed to guard the president's visit, the third since she took power last year, but the first time she will have spent the night in Aceh.
No other president apart from her father, Sukarno, has reportedly stayed overnight in Aceh.
Meanwhile, local community members told Megawati to use the visit to give Acehnese people her honest commitment to enforcing the peace deal. She must stop solving the conflict through security and military approaches and instead, should move ahead with a peaceful dialogue, they added.
Ibrahim, a local resident, said the President must be able to control all security forces deployed in Aceh following the peace agreement to prevent more violence.
"Megawati's two-day visit should not merely be aimed at performing a prayer at the Baiturrahman Mosque, which she can do in Jakarta. She must offer a solution for the province by ensuring that peace and justice will be restored in Aceh," he said.