M. Taufiqurrahman and Nani Afrida, Jakarta/Banda Aceh – Vice President Jusuf Kalla shrugged off the possibility of the former Free Aceh Movement (GAM) starting a new separatist movement by forming a local political party.
Kalla said Thursday that he was assured that former GAM officials would abide by the Helsinki Peace Accord description of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam as part of Indonesia.
"I am assured that leaders in Aceh, former GAM leaders, have agreed to maintain Aceh as part of the Unitary State of Indonesia," Kalla told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar on reading habits held by the Education Ministry here.
He was responding to a query about an initiative by the National Resilience Institute (Lemhannas) to review outlawing the newly founded GAM party. Lemhannas governor Muladi said the government should consider outlawing the GAM party if it broke any existing regulations.
Muladi also said that by establishing the GAM-based party, members of the former rebel group had violated the Helsinki Peace Accord, the Political Party Law and the Aceh Governance Law by using the symbol of their former organization.
Muladi also warned that the establishment of the GAM party could lead to the control of the legislature by the former rebel group, at which point they could propose a referendum on Aceh's independence.
Last week, former GAM senior officials announced the establishment of the local political party, which is likely to contest local elections in Aceh. The party's establishment sparked a furor as it used the flag of the former rebel group as its symbol.
Members of the new party claimed that the government had given the green light for the use of the flag, which was quickly denied by a number of senior government officials.
Kalla was among the first to reject the claim, saying that during a meeting between President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and former senior members of GAM on July 4, the President never gave his approval to use the flag. Kalla said he was present during the meeting.
On Monday, Kalla said that the establishment of the GAM party was in violation of the Helsinki Peace Accord, which said the movement should be disbanded.
Speaking after a Cabinet meeting Tuesday, Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Widodo A.S. said GAM was not allowed to use its former symbol as it could lead to disintegration. Widodo said the government would crush any attempts at separatism.
Meanwhile, in Aceh's capital Banda Aceh local people hoped that the new party would not affect the peace process in Aceh. "I hope the new GAM party will not affect the peace process," an unidentified driver of a bus plying Banda Aceh and Medan, North Sumatra, said Thursday.
As soon as the establishment of the new party was announced, more security officers were seen again everywhere, he said. Previously only a handful of officers were stationed along major roads, except to look for hashish, he added.
"Do use symbols of anything, but the most important thing is that the peace already felt among the grassroots is not affected," said Rumi Usman, a Banda Aceh resident.
Ainal, another resident, said that the peace process would be tarnished if the local party used the symbol for Acehnese independence. "The use of such a symbol is banned. Why do they insist on going ahead with using it?" asked Rusli Hamid, a trader.
Rusli said that if the establishment of the new party was only going to cause chaos, there was no need for it. "We need a local party which support the peace process, not one to ruin it," he added.