Jakarta – A draft autonomy bill for Indonesia's bloodied Aceh province, which radically multiplies its oil and gas profits but has won little support from Aceh's own leaders, is set to be presented to the government Wednesday.
A prime feature of the bill, aimed at taming escalating separatist violence there, is the return of 85 percent of Aceh's oil and gas revenues to Acehnese authorities for 10 years, after which Aceh's share would be scaled back to 50 percent.
But the reaction from the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) is still to reject autonomy, while many are sceptical the promises will be kept and others fear the proposal will only escalate the violence.
Acehnese-born upper house (MPR) member Ghazzali Abbas, who recommended that the autonomy bill give Aceh control over everything except foreign affai ave been taken by Jakarta," he told AFP.
The cleric said the bill alone could not solve the conflict without continued dialogue between GAM and Jakarta, and pointed to the doubling of killings in Aceh since last year when just under 900 deaths were recorded.
The 900 figure has been reached in the first six months of this year alone. A body of mostly student activists campaigning for an independence referendum, SIRA, said the bill failed to accommodate the demands of all Acehnese.
"I'm worried that a new conflict will break out within the community if the proposal is forced on us," SIRA chief Muhammad Nazar told AFP from prison, where he is being held on treason charges. "I'm convinced Jakarta won't give as much as what's promised in the bill," he added.
GAM opposes any form of autonomy, said a member of GAM's central command, Teungku Amri bin Abdul Wahab. "They've been offering us autonomy since the 1950's but it has never materialised," Wahab said, branding the bill a "propaganda project." Local Aceh MP, Mustafa Gelanggang, doubted the bill could end the fighting that has raged sporadically in the province on the northwestern tip of Sumatra island since the mid-1970's.
"Even if the bill is passed it's still no guarantee that Aceh's problems can be solved," he said. Gelanggang questioned Jakarta's commitment to finding peace through dialogue, saying "the moment dialogue begins they send huge numbers of soldiers to Aceh".
But in Jakarta the head of the parliamentary committee that drafted the bill, Ferry Mursyidan Baldan, was optimistic that it would be accepted by the house. "I believe the majority of members agree with the draft because of the 10-year time limit on the proposed revenue split," he said.
Baldan said the bill was not about giving the Acehnese sovereignty. "The main point ... is not to provide extraordinary authority to the Acehnese, such as establishing an independent country within Indonesia," he was quoted as saying in the Jakarta Post.
The parliamentary committee which has been drawing up the draft since April in consultation with Acehnese leaders, presented it to parliament for debate on Monday. After it has gone to the government, the executive and the legislature will debate it together, and if the consultations are successful, it is due to be finalized on July 17.
The perceived exploitation by the central government of Aceh's vast oil and gas reserves – which now earn the government more than 100 million dollars a month – has been a major factor winning the rebels sympathy in their push for independence from Indonesia.
The bill also proposes the implementation of Islamic law, or Syariah, direct elections for the provincial governor, and flag for Aceh which would fly alongside the national flag.