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Aceh bill constitutional: Government

Source
Jakarta Post - February 25, 2006

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The new bill on Aceh governance is in line with the Constitution and the Helsinki peace pact signed last August with rebel leaders, the government said in its briefing to the House of Representatives on Friday.

Critics of the controversial draft bill say it is unconstitutional because it allows Aceh to have its own flag, provincial symbol and hymn, and permits the creation of local political parties.

"The substance of the bill is in line with the Constitution and the Memorandum of Understanding (peace accord)," Home Minister M. Ma'ruf told a hearing with a House special committee formed to discuss the bill.

At the session, Ma'ruf was accompanied by State Secretary Yusril Ihza Mahendra and Communications and Information Minister Sofyan Djalil. Djalil was a government negotiator in the peace talks in Finland with the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

"The local elections (in Aceh) will be held by (the provincial elections commission) KIP. Foreign observers will be welcome to monitor the poll," Ma'ruf said. Aceh would hold regional elections after the bill was passed into law and the elections commission was established.

Ma'ruf said the Acehnese could also set up political parties as mandated in the bill and the peace accord. However, local parties could only run for elections once central government issued a regulation on the matter, which would happen by February next year at the latest, he said.

All factions in the House but the Indonesia Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) are supporting the bill, although a National Awakening Party (PKB) leader and former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid remains against it.

Several leading Acehnese figures met Friday with Gus Dur to ask him to accept the bill. Aceh legislative council member Abdullah Saleh said the Acehnese people had no intention whatsoever of separating from Indonesia.

Gus Dur ordered the PKB to reject the bill because he doubted GAM's commitment to the peace accord. During the Friday meeting, Gus Dur seemed to mellow his opposition to the bill, promising to study it again, Antara reported.

Acehnese representatives also met with former president and PDI-P leader Megawati Soekarnoputri to canvass her support. Megawati has warned that if the bill was passed into law, it could lead to the separation of Aceh from Indonesia.

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