Former Aceh Monitoring Mission chief Pieter Feith recently made his first visit to Jakarta and Banda Aceh since the mission's mandate expired in December 2006. He spoke with The Jakarta Post's Tony Hotland on Saturday about the progress of peace in Aceh, before flying out to the province on Sunday morning.

Question: Did it come as a surprise to you that the Free Aceh Movement (GAM)'s Irwandi Yusuf was elected governor?

Answer: I was surprised. We didn't think he was a serious candidate, a likely winner. He didn't have the money, the resources. The question now is does he have the capabilities to manage the enormous amount of money coming to Aceh, over Rp 3 trillion in the coming years on top of the normal allocation by the central government. What is needed is that this money is well-spent and the right priorities are being followed. That the money will be spent on infrastructure and productive projects, and it remains graft free, environmentally sensitive.

How do you see the Free Aceh Movement now after Irwandi's win?

My concern is about the internal relations, the situation within the GAM. At this point, one of the problems that may complicate the process a little bit is GAM versus GAM. There's a lack of communication between the old leadership and the new young troops, such as Irwandi. It needs somebody to invite them to sit together in a room to talk, because as a result of this lack of communication things in Aceh are not moving as smooth as they could.

Lack of communication?

They don't talk to each other, they don't consult each other. If you want to look at how we're going to continue implementing the MoU (peace agreement) and the law on Aceh governance, we need to talk to (GAM commander) Malik (Mahmood) because he signed the MoU in Helsinki, but now he doesn't consult with Irwandi. If we look at who's going to represent the GAM in the Forum of Communication (between GAM and the government) to continue discussing the implementation, then the GAM representatives are chosen by Irwandi and, here, Malik doesn't know about it.

Do you see these frictions having an impact to the peace process?

It's just frictions, nothing dramatic. We're talking to them tonight (Saturday). It is perhaps just a classic game of power... who's going to come out on top, who's going to be the leader for the future. Is it the new generation or the old generation? The new generation isn't accommodating the older enough, or you can say the other way around. It's true that Irwandi is the governor now, but he's very busy and he's got other responsibilities now. So I don't want to blame anyone.

Aside from this internal conflict, there is also the issue of re-integration funds reaching their targets slowly, or not getting to them at all. Have you heard any explanations from the government?

The funds are indeed being transferred to Banda Aceh a little bit late. There's a lot of expectation in Aceh and people are still waiting for what they've been promised. And if it doesn't come forward, it creates resentment.

Maybe you know, it is a transitional period and for this year it has been, out of the Rp 700 million (US$79,500), Rp 250 million was supposedly disbursed this year and Rp 450 million next year, and you will see this later.

The question is how to get the money out this year so that people don't get disappointed. Can they wait? Do people understand this is a budgetary technical problem? I had wished there would be perhaps a little bit more political sensitiveness (from the government) about this to make sure people don't turn cold on this.

Because basically when they agreed to peace, it was because of a lack of money in the jungle?

Yes. But people want to see an improvement in their livelihood, and they expected to see that the day after the agreement was signed. And it may not be realistic but that's how, what people think. And they haven't seen this improvement in their livelihood. Some have, but not everybody. People still don't have enough money to live and this is what needs to be addressed.

How do you see the transparency of the disbursement of the re-integration funds?

I will leave it to the central government and the local administration. I don't know how they're going to work that, but I hope it will be transparent and there will be a sensible expenditure framework. There's clarity on what the money will be spent on. There's a lot to be done in Aceh in many aspects, including with the destruction because of the tsunami.

I can't give you a precise answer on this question because it's up to the government, which is responsible for that, to deal with the challenges in that. The government has committed itself to auditing... we'd love to see how the government organizes that.