Megawati promises tougher action on Aceh separatists

Megawati promises tougher action on Aceh separatists

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

President Megawati Soekarnoputri Thursday promised tougher action
against rebels in Aceh as part of efforts to end various
conflicts in the country, even as she claimed the threat of
disintegration around the country was subsiding.

"The threat of disintegration that has been afflicting the
nation and country in recent years, and the socio-political
upheavals due to inter-societal conflicts in several areas, have
considerably subsided," the President told the People's
Consultative Assembly (MPR).

Megawati, delivering a progress report to the Assembly, said
her government would give priority to ending the conflicts in
Aceh, Papua and Maluku, as well as to preserving peace in Central
Sulawesi's Poso regency, North Maluku, Kalimantan and Atambua in
East Nusa Tenggara.

With national security high on the agenda, Megawati pledged to
promote law enforcement and restore security and order, including
combating terrorism, as part of the country's duty as a member of
the international community, and to protect public safety and
maintain national security. The government would also prioritize
efforts to cope with drug-related problems and other forms of
organized crime, she said.

Megawati gave the Aceh problem special attention, dedicating a
little over three pages of her 26-page report to the province.
She warned the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels against continuing
their hostility and violent acts of intimidation, extortion,
kidnapping, murder, hostage-taking, burning of schools and the
destruction of other public facilities.

"In line with the Assembly's guidance, the government is
placing emphasis on the importance of dialogue in resolving the
Aceh conflict. This standpoint is aimed at compelling GAM to
accept the special autonomy scheme as a political solution," she
said.

She warned that GAM's continued efforts to break away from the
Republic of Indonesia would only prolong the people's suffering
and would make a resolution to the conflict harder to achieve.

Megawati vowed to uphold the law in Aceh regardless of who
committed violence. However, while she claimed that her
government was serious in upholding the law in Aceh, she defended
her government's failure to bring the perpetrators of past human
rights violations to justice.

"In reality, to gather evidence of past crimes or other
transgressions is not a simple or easy thing to do," she said.

"The government realizes that the pain and suffering caused by
acts of violence are difficult to forget, and are traumatic,
particularly to the families of the victims. However, taking
action without sufficient evidence, based on assumptions, ill-
feeling, revenge or an interest in bringing about the
disintegration of the nation and country, will eventually produce
new violations of justice, human rights and the due process of
law," she argued.

The President on the other hand noted that conditions had
improved in Maluku and North Maluku. Given the encouraging
developments, brought about by the Malino II peace agreement and
the establishment of the Security Restoration Operation Command,
the government planned to lift the state of civil emergency in
North Maluku and to replace the civil emergency in Maluku with a
state of civil order.

Megawati stressed that her government was committed to
developing and strengthening regional autonomy as was reflected
in the number of new regencies (34) and municipalities (336)
formed following the enactment of Law No. 22/1999 on Regional
Government.

She also urged the public to be patient since there "is no
instant and quick solution to problems as complex as those that
we face now."

Economically, the government faced major challenges. Megawati
cited a banking sector that had not yet recovered, a large budget
deficit, heavy foreign and domestic debts and low investor
confidence.

Indonesia's sovereign debt total around US$136 billion, around
the same size as its gross domestic product.

"In conditions like this, the government has given priority to
macroeconomic and monetary stability," she explained.

Megawati said that Indonesia needed the support of the
International Monetary Fund and had extended cooperation with it
until 2003. However, she cautioned that such a cooperation should
not in anyway interfere with the country's sovereignty.

As far as possible the government had reduced the budget
deficit, partly by cutting subsidies on fuel, electricity and
telephone calls.

"The government was forced to adopt bitter and unpopular
policies but, nevertheless, these are extremely important for
long-term economic recovery," she said.

The 700-member assembly will present its comments and make
recommendations on how the government could improve its
performance on Friday.