Jakarta – The Aceh Party, a local party representing former Aceh rebels, is projected to win control of the parliament in Indonesia's northernmost province Aceh, a local poll monitor said Monday
The party is expected to get 43.8 percent of the votes, followed by the national-based Democrat Party with 14.3 percent; Golkar with 6.6 percent; Prosperous Justice Party with 3.8 percent; National Mandate Party with 3.4 percent; and United Development Party with 3 percent, said Elly Sufriadi, executive director of Community for Aceh Resources Development.
But five local parties will not get any of the 60-seats in the Aceh provincial parliament as they did not gain enough votes to meet the requirement of 5 percent of total votes, Sufriadi said.
Voter sampling was done with cooperation from the US-based National Democratic Institute and was conducted during the April 9 parliamentary elections at 576 polling stations throughout Aceh's 23 regencies and municipalities. The margin of error was about 1.9 percent.
"Voters tend to choose parties that could show a strong commitment to maintaining peace in Aceh. They even put peace as the number-one priority over other important issues, including the economy," Sufriadi said.
"The new (provincial) parliament is expected to work with the executives, also chosen by popular vote, to create a brand new Aceh in the future," he added.
Aceh, which is rich in natural resources, suffered from almost three decades of separatist conflict between the Free Aceh Movement and the Indonesian Armed Forces.
But a tsunami on Dec. 26, 2004 that killed or left missing 170,000 people in the province forced the sides to finally reach a peace agreement in 2005.
The agreement gives Aceh a special deal, including allowing local political parties to contest elections in Aceh. Only nationally active parties are allowed in the other provinces. In 2006, Aceh Party candidate Irwandi Yusuf won the provincial governorship.
Official election results for Aceh and the rest of Indonesia are to be announced May 9.