Fabio Scarpello, Jakarta – As the historic Aceh peace deal, signed two weeks ago in Helsinki, enters the delicate, implementation phase analysts worry that the wording is vague and that mounting political opposition could yet derail the accord. When the accord was signed on Aug.15, by Indonesia's Minister of Justice and Human Rights Hamid Awaludin and the Free Aceh Movement (Gerakan Aceh Merdeka or GAM) leader Malik Mahmud, everybody thought, in Aceh, peace is easier signed than done.
"I am neither optimist nor defeatist, I am realistic and I say that the agreement is too vague and difficult to implement," J. Kristiadi, deputy director of the independent, Jakarta Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said in an IPS interview. The Aug 15 agreement, which followed seven months of consultations, mediated by former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, ended a 29-year- war that left 15,000 people-mostly civilians-dead. Ironically, the push for peace was provided by the Dec. 26 tsunami that, in Aceh, killed over 130,000 and left 400,000 homeless.
The magnitude of the tsunami dwarfed the meaning of the war itself and forced the two warring parties to compromise.
Under the agreement, GAM dropped a long-held demand for independence and will disarm its 3,000 fighters. In return, Jakarta granted a host of financial and political incentives besides promising to withdraw some 30,000 of its 45,000 troops stationed in the province on the northern tip of Sumatra island. In a nutshell, the deal has human features and grants former rebels full amnesty and also provides for money and land to facilitate their rehabilitation in society.
The Aceh Special Autonomy takes in virtually every facet of government except foreign affairs, defence, national security, monetary and fiscal matters and freedom of religion. Further, the agreement allows Aceh to keep 70 per cent of the revenue generated from its oil and gas resources. The daunting task of checking that everything runs smoothly falls on the shoulders of 200 or so international observers of the Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM). The AMM will act as prosecutor and judge on any disputed cases concerning amnesty, the changing of the law or the implementation of the deal. According to most analysts, the observers will have their hands full.
"The agreement can be read differently. It is unclear and open to the possibility of multiple interpretations. There will be a lot of disputes," said Kristiadi. Added the CSIS analyst: "The powers granted to the Aceh local parliament should have been better defined and should have been granted only after full consultation with the House of Representatives. As it stands, who can say that in the future, that these powers will be interpreted in the same way by Jakarta and Banda Aceh?"
In truth, the agreement has already come under attack here by some legislators who have doubted its legality and voiced anger at the extent of concessions granted to Aceh. Anhar (one name), an Acehnese legislator from the Star Reform Party, has gone on record warning that the autonomy granted to Aceh could, in time, lead to a second Timor Leste. Timor Leste, once East Timor, is the former Portuguese colony and Indonesian province which voted for independence through a United Nations-brokered referendum in 1999.
In the last few days, a cross-party group, led by the Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), has raised the stakes, and started procedures to summon the government to the House of Representatives to explain the 'ins and outs' of the peace deal.