Poso truce should be promoted soon to stop bloodshed

Jupriadi & Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Makassar/Jakarta

The regional administrations should be quick to publicize the truce between Poso's Christians and Muslims signed on Thursday in order that the results of the agreement can be implemented properly at the grassroots level, observers said here on Friday.

South Sulawesi Governor HZB Palaguna, who witnessed the signing of the deal said, in the capital of Makassar, that all the officials at the Poso administrations, starting with the regent, district head, village heads and other lower-level bureaucrats should seize the initiative and talk to local people about the truce.

"The truce is a big opportunity for the government to stop the bloody clashes," Palaguna said.

In a separate interview, HM Darwis, a sociologist at the Makassar-based Hasanuddin University, told The Jakarta Post that the warring camps should be involved in publicizing the truce, popularly known as the Malino Declaration.

"A joint team to monitor progress (of the publicity campaign) should also be set up," said Darwis.

"I believe that both the warring groups are awaiting further steps now that the peace deal has been signed," he added.

Christian and Muslim groups pledged on Thursday to end the mutual resentment that had locked them into a three-year feud, at a meeting in Malino, a resort area some 70 kilometers southeast of Makassar.

Twenty-four Christian and 25 Muslim delegates signed the peace deal observed by officials, including Governor Palaguna and Central Sulawesi Governor Aminuddin Ponulele.

Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla acted as mediator in the peace talks, which resulted in a 10-point peace deal.

The two warring groups also agreed to set up two joint commissions soon. One would deal with law and order, the other, social and economic matters.

"There is no reason to delay the establishment of the two commissions. This is a very serious matter," Palaguna said.

The Malino Declaration was the outcome of the fifth of such peace talks held by the government. The previous four rounds had failed.

According to Darwis, the failure of the previous talks was due to the lack of publicity at the grass roots, poor participation by the government and the regional administrations (in implementing the results of the talks), and a poor security setup (in enforcing implementation of the results of talks).

"The declaration was a big leap forward. Things must be implemented, upheld and maintained very seriously and carefully." Members of the warring groups have, in practice, still to erase the three-year-long nightmare. Therefore the police and military must be on high alert to prevent any possible provocateurs or intruders from destroying the agreement," said Darwis.

Meanwhile, in the Central Sulawesi capital of Palu, Governor Amuniddin Ponulele said that security had to be properly maintained by the residents of Poso. "Any outsiders who have no business in the implementation of the declaration's results must leave. Those who want to stay in Poso should report to the authorities and abide by local regulations."

Meanwhile, in Jakarta Pedy Tandawuya, a member of the House of Representatives (DPR) from strife-torn Poso district in Central Sulawesi, praised the truce made on Thursday by local leaders of the conflicting Christian and Muslim groups.

It was the fifth agreement reached by the two groups three years after the first religious conflict broke out, but the first mediated by the government.

"It shows that the two groups are very much in need of peace. Poso was a quiet place," Pedy told The Jakarta Post by phone on Friday.

Asked if there were any other actions needed to enforce the peace agreement, Pedy simply said the government should discover the causes that had triggered the conflict initially.

"It is the responsibility of the government to disclose the causes of the conflict. I believe there has been something behind it. The conflict must have been engineered," said Pedy, who is the only legislator from Poso.

Although Pedy hailed the peace agreement, he considered the initiative from Jakarta was too late. He said if the government had initiated such an agreement earlier, the conflict would not have intensified.