Bhimanto Suwastoyo, Jakarta – Indonesia's parliament is set to scrutinize a draft law granting war-torn Aceh unprecedented autonomy, which may spur demands from other regions for similar deals but poses no serious threat, analysts say.
Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands that are home to people speaking hundreds of languages, has battled separatist grumblings in its far-flung corners since it proclaimed independence from the Dutch in 1945.
The contentious Aceh law, the next stage of a peace process hurried along by the 2004 tsunami tragedy which killed some 165,000 Acehnese, sees Indonesia make the greatest concessions yet in order to preserve its borders peacefully.
After nearly three decades of bloody separatist conflict, Indonesia signed a peace pact with the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) last August guaranteeing the staunchly-Muslim province at the tip of Sumatra island sweeping autonomy.
GAM agreed to drop its demand for independence in return for, among other concessions, the right to form local political parties – something that is banned elsewhere in the archipelago to discourage separatism.
But not everyone was pleased with the deal, to be codified in the draft law. Parliament is due to form a commission to discuss it on Tuesday.
Opposition has been fierce among some lawmakers, whose feathers were already ruffled by the government's failure to consult them over the August pact. They say Jakarta may have gone too far in its compromises.
In particular they fear that provinces such as resource-rich Papua, at the opposite end of Indonesia thousands of kilometres away, could try to use the pact as a model for themselves.
"It's very possible. (The law) could have effects on other regions," Sidharto Danusubroto, a member of the nationalist opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, told AFP.
He said his party, led by former president Megawati Sukarnoputri, was "meticulously studying the draft law to make sure it will not go against our national laws and constitution."
Amir Santoso, from the University of Indonesia, agreed that the passage of the law, not yet fully revealed to the public, could "see other regions queuing to make similar demands."
Papua was only incorporated into Indonesia in the 1960s. Pro-independence sentiment, fueled by rights abuses and annoyance over funds from resources flowing to Jakarta, mean it remains a potential flashpoint. "Our nation is still politically immature and this is where the problem may lay," Santoso warned.
Nationalists are still smarting from the 1999 loss of East Timor, which voted for independence in the tumultuous aftermath of the resignation of ex-president Suharto, who ruled with an iron fist for more than three decades.
Syamsuddin Harris, a political researcher at the Indonesian Institute for Sciences, said that while other regions may be encouraged to make demands, none have as strong a case to make as Aceh for special concessions.
Besides a history of resistance stretching back centuries – including nearly 40 years of battling the Dutch – the province was granted special territory status in the early 1960s. It proved to be a paper concession.
And, Harris said, the Aceh pact involved the mediation of foreigners and has the support of the international community.
"And this makes honoring the pact a national obligation," he said, adding that a 2002 autonomy law, which decentralises much of Jakarta's power to local administrations, should be enough to address grievances elsewhere.
Azyumardi Azra, chancellor of the Higher State Institute for Islamic Sciences, said this 2002 law covers most points disputed in the Aceh bill. One exception is the article on local political parties.
Under Indonesian law, parties must be based in Jakarta and have branches in more than half the country's 33 provinces but Aceh will be exempted from this.
"What everyone should remember is that, if there are separatist aspirations, they will clearly not be because of the existence of the local political parties, but rather to injustice and inequalities in policies," Azra said.
The University of Indonesia's Santoso added that with or without Aceh, greater autonomy needs to be granted to the regions under the law in any case.
"For a country as large as ours, I don't think greater autonomy for the regions will break up our unity. On the contrary," he said, noting that areas where separatist sentiment could flare now enjoyed autonomy – at least in laws on paper. "Just implement them to the letter," he added.