A number of politicians, political experts and government officials have linked the violence in Aceh to conflicts within Aceh`s political elite concerning the upcoming regional head elections in the province.
Chief Security Minister Djoko Suyanto on January 9, 2012, confirmed that the recent shooting incidents in Aceh were related to upcoming local elections.
"Earlier, we saw them as seemingly isolated incidents not related to the local elections but the continued violence followed by the recent felling of an electricity grid tower in the region has led us to see similarities with incidents that happened during the Aceh conflict in the past," the minister said.
The first-ever simultaneous regional elections in the province are scheduled to take place on February 16, 2012 and will consist of a poll for governor/deputy governor and elections for 17 district chiefs and mayors out of 23 districts/towns in Indonesia`s western-most province.
In addition to 111 candidate pairs for district chief/mayor who will compete in the polls, there are also four gubernatorial aspirant pairs, namely Irwandi Yusuf-Muhyan Yunan, Teungku Ahmad Tajuddin-Teuku Suriansyah, Darni M Daud-Ahmad Fauzi and Muhammad Nazar-Nova Iriansyah.
Irwandi Yusuf and Muhammad Nazar are the incumbent governor and deputy governor of Aceh.
Aceh political observer Teuku Kemal Fasya recently said the conflict emerged after the Constitutional Court (MK) issued a ruling to allow independent candidates to run in the elections.
The ruling made current governor Irwandi Yusuf to run for his re-election through individual nomination after he was not named by the Aceh Party as a candidate.
The Aceh Party which was established by former members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and now controls the regional legislative assembly, canceled its registration as a participant due to the ruling.
To accommodate those who had been left out or had not registered themselves or their candidates for the next elections, the home affairs ministry on January 13, 2012, requested the MK to issue a preliminary ruling ordering the Aceh Independent Election Commission (KIP) to postpone the preparatory stages for regional head elections until its request had been decided on.
The ministry`s Regional Autonomy Director General Djoehermansyah said during a hearing on the ministry`s request at the MK building last week that the ministry asked the reopening of the registration process for candidates of governor-deputy governor, district head-deputy district head, and mayor-deputy mayor to give a chance to candidates from political parties and independent candidates for seven days since the issuance of the MK`s preliminary ruling.
According to Djoeher, the request was made because the government (the ministry) needed to see the process of the Aceh regional head elections run smoothly and peacefully.
If the local elections were held without the participation of the Aceh Party, security disturbances might occur, he said.
He said the current regional head elections in Aceh have not yet been participated in by the Aceh Party, Golkar and other national parties.
If those having real power in the local parliament could not join the regional head elections, the Aceh regional administration would not run effectively and conflicts among the governor, the district heads, mayors and member of local legislators might occur, the home ministry`s official said.
Finally, on Tuesday (Jan 17, 2012), the MK issued a preliminary ruling ordering the reopening of candidates registration for Aceh`s simultaneous regional chief elections for a period of seven days.
"The reopening of the registration process, including the verification and official announcement stages, is meant to give a chance to new candidates to register. They may be proposed by a political party or a coalition of political parties, or run as independent candidates. The reopening shall last seven days since this preliminary ruling is announced," MK Chairman Mahfud MD said at the Tuesday hearing.
According to Mahfud, the registration reopening for seven days must not change the date of the planned regional head elections, which had been set at February 16, 2012.
Reopening of candidate registration happened before in Aceh. Last year, the Aceh KIP opened the registration for candidates from October 1 to 7. And on November 2, 2011, MK had also issued a preliminary ruling ordering the Aceh provincial KIP and similar commissions at district and city levels to reopen the registration for candidates.
Constitutional Judge Harjono when reading out the considerations among other thing said that many parties had been unaware of the earlier registration period and they had realized it only when the registration period had ended.
The problem could have meant disregarding the rights of political parties or individuals who were actually entitled to nominate candidates for the regional head elections in Aceh, he said.
And such a condition had the potential of creating disturbances in the implementation of the elections and the running of the Aceh administration after the elections, he stated.
Welcoming the MK`s decision, Imran Mahmudi, a lawyer of the Aceh KIP said KIP would implement the ruling. "Since the beginning, the Aceh KIP had stated that whatever the legal ruling, we will implement it," he said.
The legal ruling also received a positive reaction from the Aceh Party.
"I can assure you that the Aceh Party will register its candidates for the regional elections. We will make our decision and stand known at a party meeting soon," party spokesman Fachrul Razi said in Aceh, Tuesday (Jan 17) in response to the MK`s decision.
He said the Aceh Party appreciated the decision of the Constitutional Court as it also ensured the rule of law in the implementation of the regional elections.
"The ruling is a positive thing as part of efforts to strengthen peace in Aceh," he said, adding that "It will also open room for democracy and participation of all elements and parties in the community who wish to participate in the elections."
Former vice president Jusuf M Kalla, one of the key architects in Aceh peace process leading to the signing of Helsinki peace accord between the government and Aceh separatist group GAM almost seven years ago, is concerned about the ongoing internal conflict in Aceh. The Helsinki agreement ended the 32-year bloody conflict in the province.
"All factions in Aceh must enforce democracy and solve the problems through dialogs," Kalla said here on Tuesday on the sidelines of a conference on "Global Movement of Moderates".
He said that outsiders did not interfere in the current internal conflict in Aceh, as the conflict involved the political elites in Aceh. Therefore, political dialog was needed to help solve the problem, he added.
"Without mutual understanding, it will be difficult to solve the problem currently going on in Aceh," he said.
A call for peace also came from Azyumardi Azra, a political observer,who urged former GAM members to make peace in order to avoid local inhabitants to become victims.
"We can not expect the central government to solve the problem. What is needed now is the willingness of (Aceh Governor) Irwandi Yusuf and the Aceh Party to make peace," Azra, former rector of Syarif Hidayatullah Islamic University, said.
Minister Djoko Suyanto had urged all parties in Aceh province to restrain themselves and make joint peace-keeping efforts so that public facility vandalizing acts such as had happened recently would not recur.
The recent violence in Aceh such as the shooting incidents committed by unknown persons had drawn the attention and aroused the serious concern of the government, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in particular, he said.
"The president has expressed deep concern about the lawless actions, and hopes such cases will not recur. We don`t want the peace process and peaceful situation that have prevailed in Aceh for the last five years to be disturbed by irresponsible persons," he said. (*)
Reporter: Fardah
Editor: Kunto Wibisono
Copyright © ANTARA 2012
