Mark Forbes, Banda Aceh – Voters in Aceh have delivered a massive rebuff to Jakarta, overwhelmingly endorsing a radical rebel candidate as their first elected governor and demonstrating that resentment against Indonesian rule still burns bright.

The resounding victory of independence fighter Irwandi Yusuf, who received about 40 per cent of the vote in a field of eight, underlines Acehnese support for the hardline fighters who staged a bloody, three-decades-long independence struggle. They backed Mr Irwandi over politicians aligned to Jakarta and independence leaders exiled in Sweden.

Mr Irwandi ran against the Swedish leadership of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) after their decision to support a non-rebel moderate candidate in Aceh's first direct elections for governor, a poll brought about by a 2005 peace deal that guaranteed Aceh's self-government. Grassroots fighters and commanders rallied around Mr Irwandi.

With more than 20,000 Indonesian troops withdrawn from the province under the peace deal, there are unlikely to be the violent recriminations that followed East Timor's vote for independence.

But the International Crisis Group's South-East Asian director warned that the vote was "confrontational and we are going to have to see how Jakarta responds. It's an extraordinary result. It is certainly a huge vote for change."

Sidney Jones said: "Will Jakarta say: 'Fine, welcome, let's see how you govern,' which is what I hope they will say, or will they throw up their hands in horror and say: 'Look at what we've done and we'd better not do this anywhere else in the country, especially Papua'?"

The result was a huge step towards GAM becoming a political power, but indicated that the Swedish leadership was irrelevant, Ms Jones said. "They are history right now. We have on the ground an Acehnese leadership born and bred and who stayed here during the conflict." Mr Irwandi's campaign attacked Jakarta's failure to implement all elements of the peace deal and demanded that no national laws affecting Aceh be introduced without consent.

The vote proved Acehnese wanted to be ruled by GAM, Mr Irwandi said yesterday. "This is the dream of the Acehnese people being fulfilled and they want change, fundamental change in all walks of life and in governance," he said. "It is not easy to fulfil... there are so many things to do."

New laws had to implement the requirements of the peace deal, he said. "Even without this (poll victory), Jakarta still has obligations to fulfil."

Mr Irwandi faces significant challenges in a resource-rich province beset by corruption and struggling to cope with the aftermath of the independence conflict and the devastation of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami.

The campaign itself was largely peaceful, after GAM's Swedish leaders capitulated and said they would remain neutral in the vote. Following the result, they revealed they feared widespread violence if they had not done so.

Mr Irwandi's decisive margin makes further recriminations unlikely. The vote was also a slap in the face for Indonesia's leading Islamic party, the PKS, whose candidate received only 10 per cent of the vote.

There is some confusion about the extent of the governor's powers under Aceh's new autonomy, but the result has delivered a moral mandate to Mr Irwandi in his looming showdowns with Jakarta.