Thomas Fuller – Calls for a referendum on independence are growing louder in Indonesia's restive province of Aceh, where a demonstration last week drew hundreds of thousands of people.

Amien Rais, head of Indonesia's highest legislative body, the People's Consultative Assembly, arrived in Aceh on Friday to meet with local government leaders, religious officials and pro-indepedence groups. He spoke with Thomas Fuller of the International Herald Tribune before returning to Jakarta.

Q. Many Acehnese equate a referendum with independence. Do you believe a referendum should be avoided at all costs? A. It is useless on the part of the Jakarta government to turn down a referendum as demanded by the Acehnese people. The best response to the Acehnese is that the central government set the date of the referendum so that the Acehnese people will be appeased and satisfied.

Q. And then what?

A. From now until the date of the referendum the central government has to do its best to convince the people in Aceh that independence is not the best solution. If wide-ranging autonomy is applied within one or two years, people in Aceh will feel that their life is improving very fast. They will see good economic infrastructure, modern hospitals, modern campuses and then the average income of the people in Aceh will increase not only in theory but in practice. Maybe then the issue of a referendum will not be as hot as it is now.

Q. When would the referendum be held?

A. Maybe two years from now. The issue of the referendum must be discussed in Parliament but also, if possible, in the People's Assembly. Only then can the date of the referendum be given.

Q. In your discussions with Acehnese leaders did you try to dissuade them from holding a referendum?

A. I have to be realistic. I don't want to swim against the tide. That's useless. I think its very obvious that people do want a referendum. And a referendum means independence. That's a fact of life.

Q. How do you view the current situation in Aceh?

A. The bureaucratic machine of the local government has been paralyzed. Students, Muslim scholars, leaders of nongovernmental organizations and intellectuals on campuses are now the effective political actors. The bureaucrats are on the sidelines and even the armed forces are considered a nuisance or troublemakers. The people in Aceh have now taken their sovereignty into their own hands.

Q. What should the central government offer Aceh to prevent it from breaking away ?

A. There are three issues or problems in Aceh. First, the violation of human rights. We have to establish justice. Those criminals, those murderers, those people who raped Acehnese women, who tortured, must be brought to court – whether civilian or military court. It is a must that the criminals must be brought to justice.

Second, there must be power decentralization. The people in Aceh must be able to choose their own governor and their own mayors without any intervention from Jakarta any longer.

Third, the people of Aceh should be fully entitled to enjoy their own natural resources.

Q. The groups pressing for independence range from student organizations professing peace to the militant Free Aceh Movement. Do you view these groups as two sides of the same coin?

A. For the time being they have a common objective. They want full independence for Aceh. But they are split in the ultimate goal.

I said to Aceh's leaders: "Please think about the post-referendum issues. Now you don't have any rallying figure or leader who is accepted by all strata of Acehnese society."

Q. The police and army have largely stayed in their barracks in recent weeks. What does the central government do if the Movement for a Free Aceh makes headway and takes control of large parts of the province?

A. There are only two options. The government sends many battalions to Aceh to regain sovereignty.

The second option is to do nothing. If they raise their flag and close the offices of the republic, that would be a de-facto proclamation of Aceh independence.