Banda Aceh – A former Indonesian general and a separatist rebel are among eight candidates running for governor in the once-volatile province of Aceh next month, an election official said on Monday.
The poll, the first ever direct vote for top posts in the province, are a key stage in efforts to permanently end a conflict that has killed 15,000 people since the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) launched a rebellion against Jakarta in 1976.
The December 11 poll will also include votes to choose 19 regents and mayors across Aceh.
The warring parties signed a truce in August 2005 under Finnish mediation that paved the way for involvement of former separatists in local Aceh politics after they agreed to end their armed struggle for an independent state.
Irwandi Yusuf, GAM's representative in the body that currently monitors peace in Aceh and Djali Yusuf, a former general who led Indonesian troops in the province, are among three independent candidates in the race for governor. The other five running are endorsed by national Indonesian parties.
"All candidates have informally said they are ready to win and prepared to lose. Formally, we will soon organize a collective signing agreement on peaceful elections," the head of Aceh's election commission M. Jafar told Reuters.
The head of a European Union team that will observe the elections said last week most of the candidates he had met were so confident of winning that he was concerned sore losers could cause trouble if their expectations were dashed.
Campaigning is only supposed to start later this month, but candidates have tried to get an early start via media appearances and distributing election material across the province.
Former caretaker governor Azwar Abubakar, endorsed by two Muslim-based parties, is leading the pack in opinion polls.
The GAM vote base has been split between Irwandi and Ahmad Humam Hamid, the nominee from Indonesia's top Muslim party who has paired up on a ticket with GAM stalwart Hasbi Abdullah, who wants to become deputy governor.
Abdullah spent years in Indonesian jails after he helped his elder brother Zaini flee Indonesia in the late 1970s. Zaini Abdullah is GAM's self-styled foreign minister.
The Helsinki agreement came about after months of talks spurred by the December 26, 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that left around 170,000 Acehnese dead or missing.