Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – While a presidential decree on local political parties is still being worked out, Aceh's first-ever local party is being born this week.
The preparation committee for the establishment of the Aceh People's Party (PRA) launched its first congress in Banda Aceh on Tuesday.
During the four-day congress, representatives will elect the party's board of chairpersons and formulate its struggle programs.
The founding of the preparation committee was announced in March 2006, with the aim of establishing a local party in line with the 2005 peace agreement between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement.
The nascent party sprang from the congress of the Aceh Democratic People's Struggle Front early last year. The party aims to gain support from farmers, fishermen, students and other poor people throughout Aceh.
Participants of the congress will also prepare the party's statutes and rules of association, strategy and tactics, as well as a party manifesto, resolution and slogan.
The PRA will be the first local party ready to take part in the legislative elections in Aceh in 2009.
"The congress is expected to be attended by 400 participants, representing 16 regencies and 92 districts. We've built structures there eight months after the party's declaration," Rahmat Jailani, head of the congress' organizing committee, said Tuesday.
"We hope the PRA will be able to act as an alternative to create a new Aceh, namely an Aceh that is free from imperialism and is independent in terms of economy, politics and a modern administrative system," said Thamrin Ananda, head of the PRA preparation committee.
Even though most of the politicians establishing the party are young, they say they have learned a lot from the failures of such national parties as the Democratic People's Party.
"We will learn from those experiences and try to combine them," said Mahmudal, another member of the preparation committee.
Members of the congress' organizing committee said they were not worried about holding the congress while the presidential decree was still being drafted in Jakarta.
"The central government promised to complete the deliberation of the decree in late February. So we are going ahead with the congress," Rahmat said.
He explained that PRA members had read the draft of the decree, so they could easily adjust to any changes made in the decree later. "The contents of the presidential decree are more technical, so the structure of PRA will be easy to fine-tune later," Rahmat said.
In December, the PRA preparation committee submitted its criticisms of the draft. They argued several elements needed revision, especially the one dealing with political affiliation.
According to the draft, for a local party to send a member to the House of Representatives, it must be affiliated with a national party. "The local party should have its own chair at the House. If not, where are the special characteristics of the local party?" Rahmat asked.