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Indonesia: After Irian Jaya, Jakarta Tackles Aceh With Autonomy Package
by Kazi Mahmood
JAKARTA (IslamOnline) - After wrestling with Irian Jaya separatists and preventing further moves towards separatism on the Papuan island, Indonesia initiated a mechanism on Sunday to keep Aceh within the Republic.
Just two days before a planned unilateral declaration of independence by the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), the government announced on Saturday it would launch a $10 million "economic crash program" for the people in the volatile province.
Addressing a media conference at Merdeka Palace, Coordinating Minister for the Economy Rizal Ramli said the "immediate initiative" was designed to meet the economic and social demands of the Acehnese.
The aim of the Indonesian government is to win back the hearts of the Acehnese, the minister admitted. This is part of the central government’s plan to end the violence and calls for independence in the restive province.
The GAM plans to declare unilateral independence on December 4th after what they call are violations of a humanitarian pause agreement reached by the warring factions in Geneva earlier this year.
GAM leaders in Aceh and in the Netherlands blame the Indonesian military and police for murdering and torturing hundreds of Acehnese youth, who are mainly pro-independence supporters.
The Indonesian government feels it can still control the situation in Aceh after the failure to politically and militarily debunk the GAM from its positions in the territory.
Jakarta has been leading psychological warfare against the GAM, building a media campaign in the country on what it terms the non-respect of the humanitarian pause by the GAM.
The latest ploy to prevent the GAM from going ahead with its unilateral declaration of independence is the offer for an Autonomy package.
Observers reached by IslamOnline in Kuala Lumpur, some of which are associated to the Muslim Radicalist movement in Jakarta, said the Autonomy package was a "dubious one".
They said the amount proposed by Jakarta was huge but "where do they find this money in the three months time to implement the program?" IslamOnline was told.
Rizal Ramli said the money to finance the three-month program, scheduled to begin early this month, and would be drawn from "a special post" which was "specifically prepared for the regional autonomy".
Indonesian President Abdulrahman Wahid said the package was ready much earlier and that the money was always there. A 13-member task force, which falls directly under Wahid, was formed on November 29th to handle the matter.
The secretary general of the Ministry of Settlement and Regional Infrastructure will head the task force.
The aid package was part of the government's response to Acehnese discontent arising from economic and social injustice and years of human-rights abuses by Indonesia's military, the government stated.
The resource-rich province is a large contributor to the country's economy, but GAM separatists say Aceh has been getting very little in return from Jakarta.
The government said that under the framework of the initiative, Jakarta would channel medicine, food and other basic supplies to flood-hit areas in Aceh.
Floods in the territory have left at least 16 people dead and caused more than $80 million in financial losses.
Observers said the package was announced after the failure to restore the peace talks which the government scheduled for December 3rd and 4th.
The GAM had on Saturday requested a postponement of talks to an indefinite period, saying that it was not ready to hold talks with the Jakarta representatives on December 3rd.
The GAM is calling for independence of the territory due to the slow process of negotiations with Jakarta. Its leader, based in the Netherlands, has urged the Acehnese people to take up arms against the Indonesian "occupying" forces.
Hassan Tiro, who is in self-exile in the Netherlands, also urged the GAM to remain united and not to negotiate with the "treacherous regime" of Wahid whom he said did not intend on giving anything to the Acehnese people.
The Indonesian government on Saturday stressed that it will never tolerate the GAM’s or the Acehnese people’s political demands.
It said it was trying to differentiate with Acehnese leaders between their demands for economic justice and the prosecution of human-rights violators, from their political demands for independence.
The GAM rejects the exclusion of political demands in peace talks and would insist on a referendum, which would determine whether the resource rich province would remain in the Republic, or not.
Wahid, however, dismisses all chances for a referendum for Aceh if the GAM wants it to include independence. He said that if there were to be a referendum, it would be about Islamic laws and/or Autonomy.
Concerning the package offered to the Acehnese, the government said it would also include repairing the damaged infrastructure in Aceh, including, roads, schools, mosques, churches and telecommunications facilities.
The government added that under the rehabilitation program it would also try to bring back judges and prosecutors to Aceh to revive law enforcement in the province.
Dozens of judges and prosecutors left Aceh over the past several months for fear of further violence between separatists and security personnel.
The government also said it would take steps "to accelerate the implementation of special autonomy" in the troubled province, and reiterated its earlier commitment to establish a freeport in Sabang, just off the northwestern tip of Sumatra.
Wahid also called on the Acehnese Saturday "to maintain calm and security in Aceh so that these programs can be implemented properly".
"We do not want the TNI [Indonesian military] to have too much of a role in Aceh except for the maintenance of security and order," Wahid said.
The President also said during the media conference he would visit the flood-hit areas in West Sumatra and Aceh later this month.
When pressed to specify the dates of his visit, Wahid said he would visit Aceh twice, with his second visit being to the capital Banda Aceh.
Wahid said his task is to maintain the sovereignty of the republic of Indonesia.
"I will fly to Aceh on December 15th to attend a celebration of Nuzulul Quran [the Holy Qur’an’s descent], " he said.
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