By Azhar Ghani
Voters across Aceh voted Monday (Dec 11) in landmark elections seen as providing new hope to a region torn by nearly 30 years of separatist war.
The polls are a key part of an historic peace agreement signed on Aug 15 last year between rebels of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and the Indonesian government.
The hope is that it will cement the path to peace in a province which has lost 15,000 lives in an insurgency spanning 29 years.
Former rebels and an ex-army general were in the race Monday for governor, mayors, and district chiefs.
An unofficial sampling of the vote last night by the Indonesian Survey Institute showed former rebel spokesman Irwandi Yusuf leading the race for governor with 39 per cent of the vote. Final results will be known only in early January.
His support came from across the region, and not just former insurgent strongholds. Mr Irwandi was jailed for rebellion in 2003 but escaped when the tsunami struck in December 2004, wrecking his prison.
Monday's polls marked a significant milestone in the rocky history of attempts to end the Acehnese struggle for independence; several previous efforts broke down in frustration, bitterness and more fighting.
The festering rebellion was costly, too, to the central government in terms of blood and treasure. And Jakarta came in for criticism for human rights abuses on the occasions when it resorted to force to crush the rebels.
Commenting on the polls Monday, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said: "We want this election to really proceed well because a peaceful settlement of the Aceh problem, an Aceh which... would build (its future) well and within the large family of Indonesia, has been our choice."
Speaking to The Straits Times before the polls, Irwandi said: "These elections are important for everyone in Aceh. With our fate in our own hands, this marks a new beginning for a better future."
His sentiments were shared by the Acehnese, judging by the strong turnout. About 75 per cent of the 2.6 million eligible voters voted, according to an independent election commission official.
Polling was largely peaceful. More than 10,000 police officers were deployed at some 8,500 polling stations. One man was arrested for threatening to detonate a grenade, while an improvised bomb exploded in a northern village. There were no casualties in either incident.
Despite not being a political party, GAM's participation was made possible because the government agreed to allow its candidates to run as independents.
The precedent-setting decision to allow independent candidates was among the major concessions that both sides made when they returned to the negotiating table after the devastating tsunami, that left some 170,000 dead in Aceh.
At the Finnish-brokered talks, GAM gave up its long-held demand for independence. The Indonesian military in turn pulled out half its 50,000-strong garrison from Aceh.
Crucially, the oil- and gas-rich province was also promised control over 70 per cent of its mineral wealth - a move that could rectify the anomaly of Aceh being Indonesia's third richest province in terms of revenue, but fourth poorest province in terms of the income of its people.
Huge challenges lie ahead for those chosen to lead Aceh in the next five years. For one thing there is the task of helping the thousands who lost family, homes and livelihoods in the tsunami.
Said Banda Aceh voter Mohajer Mohammad, a 37-year-old mechanic: "We have been through a lot and now is our chance to move on. Now that we have peace, it would be good if Aceh could prosper."
ST/ANN, 13.12.2006