Banda Aceh – Indonesia's presidential favourite vowed on Friday to achieve peace in rebellious Aceh and restore dignity to people in the strife-torn province if he was voted to office.
Ex-general Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was chief security minister when Indonesia imposed martial law and launched its biggest offensive ever against Acehnese rebels in May last year. However, diplomats say he had favoured a political solution to the decades-long conflict, but eventually went along with demands of military hawks when peace talks collapsed.
"If I am elected, I will keep [trying] to solve the Aceh problem with two pillars. First, the armed separatist movement must be halted through solutions for peace," said Yudhoyono during a visit to the provincial capital Banda Aceh ahead of Indonesia's first direct presidential election on July 5.
"Second, the issues of justice and dignity in Aceh that have been felt lacking and have become one of the triggers for conflict must be dealt with through special autonomy."
Yudhoyono, who was speaking with student leaders amid tight security, did not elaborate on how he would achieve a solution to a conflict that has killed at least 10,000 people since 1976. Jakarta lifted martial law in Aceh in May, exactly one year after its imposition, but has not eased up on the offensive. Analysts have said the operation had failed to defeat the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), while rights groups have accused the military of human rights abuses during the offensive.
Yudhoyono quit President Megawati Sukarnoputri's cabinet in March after a row with her over his own presidential ambitions. Prior to the offensive, the government had offered an autonomy package that gave Acehnese more say over their affairs and a share in the province's natural wealth. But there has been little accounting for years of abuses, both at the hands of the military and the rebels, rights groups say.
A tambourine troupe and girls with floral garlands welcomed Yudhoyono when he stepped off the plane at Banda Aceh, 1,700 km northwest of Jakarta. Later on Friday, he plans to hold a rally in Aceh's largest stadium.
Some 150 million Indonesians will be eligible to choose out of the five presidential candidates and their running mates on July 5. Yudhoyono has led recent opinion polls with numbers far above the others. His Aceh visit came in the same week as Swedish authorities, following pressure from Indonesia, arrested three Stockholm-based GAM leaders.
Indonesia has hailed the arrests after years of trying to convince Sweden to take action against Acehnese who have become Swedish citizens or residents but remain active GAM leaders. GAM has said the arrests would not dampen their fight.