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.