The Jakarta Post, November 19, 2004
Acehnese say SBY has made no difference
Tiarma Siboro and Nani Afrida, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Banda Aceh
Acehnese responded coldly to the government's decision on Thursday to extend the
state of civil emergency in the province, complaining that they were not involved in the
process that led to the decision.
They demanded that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono pursue a dialog with the
Acehnese to find a peaceful settlement to the separatist problem that has plagued the
natural resource-rich province for almost four decades.
In an official statement shortly after Susilo issued the presidential regulation extending
the state of civil emergency for six months, the Aceh Legislative Council questioned
the President's claim that the extension decision was made after hearing from Aceh
councillors.
"As far as I know, the Aceh council never recommended that the President extend the
state of civil emergency. Rather, we urged the government to pursue a dialog to deal
with the problems in Aceh," said the deputy speaker of the Aceh provincial legislature,
Waisul Qarany Aly.
He said no Aceh councillors were invited to attend the so-called evaluation meeting
the government held prior to extending the emergency status.
Another Aceh councillor, Nasir Djamil, said the decision was a setback in the current
administration's efforts to resolve the problems in Aceh.
"If the interests of the Acehnese people was one of the reasons behind the decision,
what mistakes did we commit that we have to live under a state of emergency?" he
asked.
Nasir suggested a dialog between the government and community groups in the
province be held to arrive at a more legitimate decision regarding the Aceh conflict.
A lawyer from the Aceh Legal Aid Institute, Rufriadi, said that despite his claims to be
a reformer, Susilo failed to offer a new paradigm for Aceh.
"He (Susilo) seems to talk nonsense. At one time he said he would bring a special
approach to dealing with separatism in Aceh and Papua. People thought this special
approach would be a peaceful dialog," he said.
Rufriadi said Susilo was no different from his predecessor, Megawati Soekarnoputri,
who imposed martial law in Aceh for a year and state of civil emergency for six
months.
After receiving approval from the House of Representative, the President announced
on Thursday the extension of the state of civil emergency in Aceh.
In response to the decision, rebel spokesman Anwar Husain said guerrillas were
prepared for any situation. He also ruled out any possibility for dialog unless Jakarta
dropped the emergency status.
The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has been fighting for independence in Aceh since
1976.
In Jakarta, activists from the Aceh Working Group demanded the President find more
"creative solutions" for Aceh.
"What kind of dialog will the government offer to Acehnese living under this kind of
pressure?" group representative Smita Notosusanto, said.
Acehnese sociologist Otto Syamsuddin Ishak said the decision closed the way for
efforts to settle the problems in the troubled province.
"The economy in Aceh collapsed following the government's decision to impose
martial law last year. There will never be any recovery with Susilo bowing to the
military's demand for an extension of the emergency status," he said.
The state of civil emergency will also deny the public access to investigations into
high-profile corruption cases allegedly involving local political leaders, as well as
hampering efforts to organize the direct election of local government heads.
All contents copyright © of The Jakarta Post.
|
