Dayah Tanoh – Before last year's peace deal, Cek Bi used to lie awake at night listening to gunfire rattling through her village. Now, the 40-year-old widow hopes Monday's elections will make the government-rebel truce in Indonesia's Aceh province irreversible.
"My husband could not go into the rice fields without being threatened or beaten by soldiers," said the mother of eight, marveling at how much has changed in Dayah Tonoh, a former rebel stronghold. "Houses were set on fire, our young men kidnapped and killed," she said. "No one ever dreamed this day would come."
The elections for Aceh's governor, mayors and other local positions will be the first since an Aug. 15, 2005, accord ended a 29-year civil war that claimed at least 15,000 lives, many of them civilians caught up in army sweeps of remote villages.
Crucially, former members of the rebel Free Aceh Movement, known by its Indonesian acronym GAM, are among those running for office – something that would have been impossible before a tsunami crashed into the province's coastlines two years ago, giving fresh impetus to the peace process.
But an internal rift in the movement is expected to dent their election chances, and could affect their ability to transform into a viable political movement ahead of national elections in 2009 – when provincial parliamentary seats will be at stake – said Sidney Jones of the Brussels-based International Crisis Group research institute.
For most people, however, the main thing now is that they are getting the chance to cast ballots, and more than 85% of about 2.6 million eligible voters are expected to turn out on election day. "We want change," said Kurnia Dewi, 36, who runs a small food stall near the university campus in the provincial capital, Banda Aceh. "It doesn't matter to me who wins. I don't care what their political background, or what role they played in the struggle, as long as they are determined to rebuild Aceh and work for the people."
The lead-up to the elections, from voter registration to campaigning, has been peaceful, and analysts predict polling day will go equally well.
With eight pairs of candidates vying for the positions of Aceh governor and his deputy, however, it is likely there will be no clear winner in the first round, meaning a run-off vote in March
"You are unlikely to see any sudden outbreaks of violence, or GAM turning against the peace process, or the military suddenly putting a hold on the electoral process," Jakarta- based political analyst Marcus Mietzner said.
He said all sides appear to genuinely support the peace process.
Remarkable changes have taken place in Aceh, an oil-and-gas rich province of 4 million people on Sumatra island's northern tip, since the 2004 tsunami smashed into its coastlines, killing an estimated 167,000 people and leaving another half-million homeless.
The tragedy sped up the peace process, with the rebels and the government saying they did not want to add to people's suffering. The success of the agreement, signed in Helsinki, Finland, has exceeded most expectations.
The rebels gave up their long-held demand for independence and handed over all of their weapons in exchange for being allowed to participate in local politics.
The government pulled out half of the 50,000 troops it had in Aceh, and agreed to give the province control over 70% of the revenue from its mineral wealth.
"We've seen very little in the way of violence. We've seen very little acrimony, really, in relation to the elections," said Paul Rowland of the US-based National Democratic Institute.
He acknowledged, however, that there are lingering problems. Tensions have formed between members of GAM's political "old guard," who spent much of the civil war in exile in Sweden, and younger combatants who stayed home and fought. Both factions are fielding separate candidates for the top jobs of governor and deputy.
At the same time, many separatists are frustrated because they say they have not received promised funds from the government to help them find jobs or learn skills after years spent fighting.
"I'm not the only one," said former fighter Teungku Zainal Cot, 34, who lives in the former GAM stronghold of Pidie, 125 kilometers east of the provincial capital, and has struggled to make ends meet by taking on construction jobs offered on a day-by-day basis. "Many other GAM members are hurting. They don't have enough money to buy cigarettes or fuel."